Things Can Change
by SlyKitten
Summary: ..Complete.. The war is over, Voldemort is gone, perceptions have changed, friendships have been formed, so why can't Draco and Hermione get along?
1. A lil Backgound Info

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling

This is my first fanfiction ever so please leave me some comments and suggestions!

A lot of things had happened in the last year. The Great War had begun and ended, with the light side being victorious. All captured Death Eaters had been sent away to Azkaban, though it was not entirely known how many were still in hiding. But even with this known, the general thought among the wizarding community was that the world was now a better place.

Things in Hogwarts had changed greatly also. All four now houses coexisted harmoniously, especially since the great majority of the Slytherin house did not fight on the side of Voldemort. The other three houses were shocked, of course, to learn this when the beginning of the war occurred, but no one questioned it. Though, everyone was curious to what had changed the minds of the young dark wizards, but the Slytherins weren't exactly jumping to share that information.

So it comes to no big surprise that the biggest change within the castle was between the Gryffindors and the Slytherins, well the change within the most prominent students of these respective houses. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were now close friends with Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini. The four boys always seemed to be together these days. Odd, right? After spending the majority of the war fighting along side each other, literally, saving each other's necks time and time again, a friendship was bound to happen. The Hogwarts professors were quite pleased with this friendship; it served to increase the unity within the castle.

The professors were not the only one's pleased with this friendship. It seemed that the female population of the school was even happier about it. Why? Well, it is better to see the four hottest guys in school together, than to look for them separately, right? No longer would the young witches have to search the halls looking for one individually. If one handsome wizard was found, it was likely that the other three were not far.

It was quite a shame that one of the young heartthrobs was already in already in a serious relationship. Harry and Pansy Parkinson were the most popular couple in the school. They complimented each other really well, though they did get into their fair share of arguments. Harry had toned down and softened the Slytherin princess considerably, now she was liked by most of the girls of Hogwarts a great feat considering that she took Harry off the market. She was even friends with Hermione Granger, the ever so studious Gryffindor princess.

Hogwarts' once greatest rivals were now friends, the most powerful group of young witches and wizards in the history of the school. The eight are deeply respected and liked by their peers. The eight students I speak of are Harry, Pansy, Draco, Blaise, Ron, and Hermione of course, but also include Millicent Bulstrode, and Ginny Weasley.

They are a close knit group… for the most part. For some reason Draco and Hermione just can't get along. If left alone, they would bicker consistently until someone intervened. At first it was thought that Draco still despised her because she was a muggle-born, but he had gotten over that prejudice even before the war, after all he was friends with many of the older muggle-borns in the school. After it was concluded that this was not the case, the next thought was that Hermione just could not forgive Draco for all the things she had done and said to her over the years. But if this was the case, how could she be nice to Crabbe and Goyle? No one could figure it out.

Draco and Hermione sharing the Head's dorms did not make it any better. Days of silence followed by days of screaming and hexing were not uncommon. After all, there was no one to intervene in their confrontations. While in the presence of the faculty and younger student, they were civil to one another, civil meaning that they stayed silent and basically ignored one another when possible.

Their friends could not understand their behavior. If there was a good reason for them to still dislike each other so much, then the remaining six would just leave it alone. But since it was highly improbable that there was a good reason, Harry, Ron, Blaise, Pansy, Millicent, and Ginny began to think of ways to get the two Head Students to get over whatever it was that was keeping them enemies.

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	2. the argument

Disclaimer: Harry Potter Belongs to J.K. Rowling

Hermione slowly walked down the corridor, dreading going back to the Head's common room. She had just spent a couple of hours in the library finishing the majority of her weekly homework. Though her peers assumed that she enjoyed spending her free time studying, the fact was, she only studied enough to earn top grades. The rest of the time she did things she actually enjoyed; reading, listening to music, singing and dancing in her bedroom (with a silencing charm on the walls of course). But she never let anyone other than her close friends know otherwise. She was annoyed that she had had to study a little more than usual lately. Contrary to popular belief she only earned the highest scores half the time, the other half went to Malfoy.

'I never thought that arrogant bastard would beat me in grades as well as become Head boy,' Hermione thought with annoyance as she neared the entrance to her dorm.

She said the password (ne jamais juger un livre) to the portrait of the lion having tea with the snake and walked into her common room. She fleetingly wondered about the password the headmaster had chosen for them. French was a language that she new little of, just enough to get by if she ever became stranded in France, so she was clueless to what it meant. Malfoy knew what it meant, and of course it annoyed her to no end, but she just never remembered to look up the translation when she was in the library. That and she really was just too lazy.

'I hope that Malfoy is out with Harry or somebody. I'm just not in the mood to argue with him today,' she thought as she quickly ran to her bedroom to drop off her books. She took a moment to change into a white tank top and baby blue cotton drawstring pants then made her way back to the common room. In her rush she hadn't noticed that Malfoy was sleeping on the couch with his charms textbook lying across his chest.

Hermione watched him for a moment, wondering for a millionth time how someone who looked like him could behave the way he did. It was easy for her to see why he was the most sought out guy in their little group now that Harry was taken. Not that he wasn't the most sought out before; he and Harry shared that honor. With his light blond hair and steely grey blue eyes, even Hermione had to admit that he was… er… decent.

"How can someone who looks like an angel have the heart of a demon?" she grumbled as she settled onto the couch across from him and opened her book. She was determined to enjoy the silence in the common room for as long as possible.

Unfortunately, the silence only lasted a few minutes.

"Glad that even you can appreciate how handsome I am, Granger. Too bad you would never have a chance with someone with even a quarter of my good looks," she heard him drawl lazily from behind her book.

"Oh shut up ferret, can't we have one evening where I don't have to hear the stupidity that comes out of your mouth?"

"But Granger, if I didn't speak to you, you would never have the chance to speak with a man as beautiful as me. You should be happy for the honor I have given you"

"Just because you are an overly pampered pretty boy, that does not make you a beautiful man. If I want beautiful men I can go talk to Harry, Blaise, or Ron. Hell, even Crabbe or Goyle could be considered better looking; they don't have the horrid personality that you have." Hermione rolled her eyes as she placed her book on the coffee table in front of her and glared at him. She could feel the onset of yet another argument.

Draco narrowed his eyes at her. "I will pretend that you did not say that last comment. Not that any opinion of yours on beauty is of any significance. Look at you, I've seen my owl cough up things that looked better," he sneered.

"Didn't your parents teach you any manners you git. That is not how you talk to a lady," Hermione said with forced politeness. She was determined to not let it show how much that last comment had bothered her.

"Hah! A lady?" he scoffed. "You could hardly be considered female in the wizarding community. Maybe muggles have lower standards."

Hermione didn't respond. She just glared at him silently. Draco knew that she was getting angrier by the second by the way she was starting turning. Then her body began to tremble like it usually did before she exploded with impressive insults. But what she did next shocked him. She silently stood up while continuing to glare, picked up her book, threw it at his face and stormed up to her room, never noticing that Blaise and Ron had entered the dorm and had been standing by the entrance to the common room.

Upstairs, Hermione slammed the door to her bedroom. She had never been so angry in her life. Well, she had been, but those times weren't important at the moment. She sat down on her bed and willed herself to calm down.

"He'll pay for that comment," she thought as she began to devise a plan. "He'll pay."

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	3. and the reason iswhat?

Disclaimer: it's the same ol same ol, doesn't belong to me

By the way they are all in their 7th year except for Ginny who is a year below.

Ron and Blaise looked wearily at each other. They were used to the squabbles between Hermione and Draco, but it seemed that lately they had been escalating in their nastiness. They had yet to figure out a way to get the two to be, at least, _civil_ to one another, but they knew that they would have to soon. There was no way that the two could continue sharing a dorm without something really bad happening.

Ron walked towards Draco who was now staring at the warm glow in the fireplace.

"Don't you think that was a bit harsh?" Ron said as he sat on recently vacated couch.

"No."

"Draco," started Blaise who had just sat down next to Ron. "You really were to hard on her. I mean she really is quite pretty."

"Pretty?" said Ron. "You only say pretty because you don't see her over the holidays. In her muggle clothes she is hot! I mean if she wasn't like a sister to me I would…"

"Are you quite done with your disgusting fantasy?" Draco interrupted, annoyed. He wasn't in the mood to hear about how perfect Granger was for the millionth time. "Aren't you interested in Millie anyways?"

"I am… but I am still a man. And as a man it is my duty to observe and share my findings of beauty pertaining to the female gender. I cannot fail in that duty." Ron said in his 'Professor' voice. Draco just snorted and continued to look disgusted while Blaise just chuckled.

"Well I for one would love to see Mya in her normal muggle clothing. Someone needs to burn those sweats she insists on wearing all the time. But anyway, seriously, Draco, Hermione is a great girl. Why can't you just attempt to be nice to her?" Blaise asked.

"Ugh, not this again. We've been through this before, I just don't like her"

"And you keep giving crappy answers like that. Why don't you like her?" Blaise pressed.

"Look… if I was nice to her, who would I have to argue with? That is why I do not and will not like her. Ever."

"What the hell kind of answer is that? That didn't even make any bloody sense! Pisses me off when you start with that question avoidance shit. Make me remember why I didn't like…" Ron started until he was interrupted by Blaise.

"Calm down… you know how he gets when he doesn't want to answer a question. Obviously, there is something that he doesn't want to tell us. As his best friends we must respect his wishes, you would think that saving a person's life multiple times would entitle you to a few secrets, but I guess that isn't the case now."

"Reverse psychology doesn't work on me. You of all people should know that Blaise. Wouldn't it be _odd_ that I can withstand a 'Crucio' but I would give in to your mind game? Now if you two will excuse me, I think I will make it an early night. Goodnight." And with that Draco rose from his seat on the couch and stalked up the stairs to his bedroom.

"He is definitely not telling us something. He never avoids a question and he's been avoiding this one for way too long. We've got to think of a way to get over this." said Ron.

"Yeah, but Mya isn't listening to reason either. Maybe something happened when they were alone in here"

"It's possible… they are pretty volatile when they are with each other"

"Well I'm going to head back to my common room. Gotta store up on energy to keep up with your sister tomorrow in Hogsmeade. What are you going to do?"

"Gonna go up and talk to Hermione… Hey Blaise?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you guys always interrupt me when I'm talking?"

Blaise was silent for a moment. "Because we don't have enough dragon fruit potion to deal with your verbal diarrhea." And with that he walked out of the common room leaving a very red Ron Weasley behind.

Next Chapter is Ron's convo with Hermione, then I promise to speed this up.

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	4. The new Hermione

The name of the game stays the same, as does the disclaimer.

Hermione was sitting on her bed with her head in her hands when there was a knock on the door. She had gone from furious, to angry, to annoyed and finally just plain upset. She could never understand how just one person would make her feel so many terrible emotions in such a short time span. Hermione rapidly wiped the tears from her face.

"Who is it?" she asked sharply as walked over to the mirror to try to make herself look semi-presentable. She knew it wouldn't be Malfoy, he never apologized for anything that he did or said.

"Ron" replied the muffled voice.

"patefacio" mumbled Hermione as she flicked her wand at the door. She walked over to her bed and sat down again. A moment later Ron walked in and sat next to her.

"I heard what he said to you…" Ron began.

"If you came in here to tell me how Malfoy is really a great guy and all that bull, you can save it. I've heard it all before."

"Actually that wasn't what I had in mind. What I was going to say was that he was a jerk for saying that to you. But… he does have a point."

"I can't believe you are saying this to me! You are supposed to be one of my best friends!" Hermione jumped up from the bed and grabbed her wand ready to throw a hex at her 'friend'.

"Will you sit and listen? You know I think that you're beautiful. Now put that thing away before you do something that you will regret."

Hermione stood in front of him for a moment and slowly lowered her wand. She sat back down with a "hmph!"

"As I was saying… I know how you feel you about wearing you muggle clothes while you're here and how you don't want to attract any more attention to the fact that you are a muggle born, but don't you think that you've gone a little far with it? I mean, Mya, you are a gorgeous girl, but its hard for people to see that when you hide behind baggy, not to mention ugly, clothing. You _know _how to look good. Who cares what the kids here think? You've already proven yourself to be the most powerful witch here. You'll be respected even more for being yourself and not being what people expect you to be." Ron looked really proud of himself after that little speech. But he was still a little worried about how she would react to finally hearing the truth.

Hermione was silent for a long time. Then she said something that Ron didn't expect. "You're right. I guess after that whole thing with Victor I just stopped caring about how I looked around here. I guess I figured, if I couldn't get a wizard to care about me, I should just accept my fate to be alone. After all, no muggle boy would want to be with me after he found out the truth."

"Hermione, Victor was…"

"A bastard, I know. Look I agree with you. Hogwarts will be seeing a whole new Hermione Granger beginning tomorrow!"

Hermione woke up early the next morning. She knew she had a lot of work to do if she wanted to look like her old self again in time for the Hogsmeade trip. After grabbing a bunch of grooming supplies buried deep in her trunk, she walked into the bathroom both she and Draco shared. After muttering a locking charm "nullus invado" on the door leading to Draco's bedroom, she began sorting through all her supplies until she came up with her warm vanilla sugar body wash. She poured a capful of the contents into the bathtub and turned on the warm water. When the tub was full, she quickly took off her pajamas and climbed in the scented water. She closed her eyes and relaxed; it had been a while since she had let herself take a nice bath instead of a quick shower.

After she had soaked for about thirty minutes she began to exfoliate her skin. She then shaved her legs and underarms being extra careful not to nick her skin. After she finished she jumped out the bath, drained the bath that magically began to clean itself and the water lever lowered, and wrapped herself in a towel.

Hermione walked over to the mirror and examined her reflection. 'I at least I had continued to do my eyebrows' she thought to herself. She combed a wave enhancing foam though her wet hair before the allowed it air dry. Never one to wear a lot of makeup she just put on a tinted moisturizer, lined her eyes with charcoal liner, black eyeliner and grey eye shadow.

Satisfied with her face she said the counter charm on Draco's door "invado" and went into her room to change. Luckily she had brought all of her muggle clothing to school, she just never wore them. She searched her closet for her favorite casual outfit and smiled when it was found. Hermione pulled on the shirt and skirt quickly and went over to her full length mirror. She looked just how she remembered. The shirt was multi layered; the top layer was a black, slightly loose, and sleeveless, and was slashed horizontally across the top while the second layer was just a cropped white tank top. A glimpse of her silver dangling belly ring could be seen. Her skirt was a lowrise, sandbasted denim mini. It wasn't short enough to look slutty, but enough for the boys to notice. The skirt was really low; a portion of the tattoo on her hip was visible. She slid on her black and white pumas and smiled to herself. The outfit was very urban and very hot. Looking at her clock, she hurried to put the finishing touches on her outfit.

"Hermione! Hurry up, we want to get out oh here!" yelled Pansy. She, Harry, Ron, Millie, and Draco were impatiently waiting in the common room to go to Hogsmeade. Blaise and Ginny had left the room a few minutes earlier and would meet them at The Three Broomsticks later in the afternoon.

"Ok, this is what we are going to do" said Harry looking at Draco. "You are going to wait for Hermione while the four of us head over. If you don't catch up to us meet us at that Zonko's in half hour."

"Why do I have wait for the evil wench?"

"Because you two have to get the letter from Dumbledore to take to that ministry. And after what I heard you did yesterday I think the least you could do is wait for her."

Draco, not feeling like arguing with Harry just sat on the couch and sulked. The other four left, happy that they no longer had to wait for Hermione. After a few minutes Draco became agitated and went up the steps and started banging on her door.

"Granger, get out here now! Ten more minutes of grooming will not make you look any better, we are leaving now!"

Just then her door opened. "Finally- " he started, but when he saw the girl in front of him he couldn't finish his sentence. He just couldn't keep his eyes from slowly roaming over her body. As his eyes slid lower and lower his heart rate began to speed up, but he barely noticed.

"Oh shit…"

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	5. he was scared?

Disclaimer: Is Not mine, but you knew that.

**A/N**: I do not speak French and I do not claim to know anything about French. The little French I have here I translated from English from a translation sight. So if it is completely wrong, don't blame me, blame the sight. Well… I suppose you could blame me because I used the site, but that is besides the point. Any ways, enjoy!

Hermione smiled to herself as she remembered the way Malfoy had been blatantly staring at her when she opened her bedroom door. 'I guess he sees that I am more female than he had ever thought' she amusingly thought. But of course, after a moment, he went back to his arrogant self. From the moment the two stepped out of the castle Malfoy began a long winded rant about how women use glamour charms to deceive men into liking them. Hermione ignored him the whole time, knowing that would infuriate him even more. And it did; the longer they walked, the more agitated Malfoy became. By the time the pair reached Zonko's it took all of Hermione's energy not to slap him across his precious pretty boy face. Instead she hissed "Shut up ferret" right before they walked up to their friends.

When the group saw Hermione, they were full of praises over her 'new' look. They were all glad that she had finally decided to just be herself. And it didn't hurt that she looked much more fashionable now, even though the style was much different than what pureblood wizards were used to seeing. Her clothes suited her; edgy, sharp, slightly sweet with a tinge of danger. After about ten minutes, tired of hearing praises to Hermione, Draco announced that he was going to check out the new bookstore, Reamer's Realm.

"Hey Mya, didn't you want to go to that new bookstore?" said Millicent, eager to get Ron away from her. His drooling was making her very upset.

"What, Millie?" Hermione hadn't heard Draco's announcement or Millicent's question.

"That new bookstore, didn't you want to go?" Millicent was trying hard not to show how irritated she was, after all, it wasn't Hermione's fault that Ron was acting like a dog in heat.

"Oh yeah? Did you want to come?"

"No, but Draco's going, so now you can't complain about not having company."

"But I don't want to go with him!"

Draco walked over and grabbed her arm. "Stop being a baby, Granger, there's no use arguing. Maybe if you're a good girl I might throw a shiny galleon your way so you can buy something."

Hermione scoffed. "I don't need your dirty money. Now get off me!" And with that pulled her arm away and stalked off.

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Hermione ran her finger across the bindings of the books in the wizard history section of Reamer's Realm. This store was much larger than Flourish and Botts and had a larger variety of books. Another positive attribute about the size of the bookstore was that she had no idea where Malfoy was. The minute the two had entered the store they took off in different directions, and for this Hermione was grateful. Spending so much time with him was wearing on her nerves and she desperately needed a break. She hadn't seen him for the past forty-five minutes and she was happy for every minute of it. "He's probably in the dark arts section thinking of new ways to hex me" she mumbled under her breath.

"Ahh, the pretty lady is interested in the dark arts? I knew I liked you when I saw you walk in" came a gravely voice with a strong accent. Hermione turned around and found a scarred-faced, middle-aged man with stringy hair staring intently at her. "I could show you a thing or two about the dark arts pretty lady."

Not wanting to be rude but wanting the creepy man to leave she said, "No thank you", smiled and started to turn back around. But before she could do so, the man grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her against the wall. "That wasn't a question." he hissed in her ear and he pressed himself closely to her.

"Get off of me!" Hermione shrieked, hoping that someone was nearby. She had never thought that it would be dangerous to venture to the very back of the most isolated section of the store. Obviously people weren't as interested in history as she was.

"I do whatever I want, whenever I want pretty lady" the man said dangerously as he began to slide his right hand up her leg. "And what I want now is you."

Hermione closed her eyes, willing herself to stop the tears from forming. She prayed that somebody, anybody, would come and find her. Why had she put her wand in her purse and not in the waist of her skirt?

"Get off of her right now" growled a low voice behind the man. Hermione's eyes flew open and saw Malfoy standing behind the man looking angrier than she had ever seen him. And that was saying something; she had seen him fight during the war.

The man chuckled into her ear. He slowly turned around. "Now why would I listen to…" he started to say until he saw who was standing before him. His eyes became wide when he said, "M-Monsieur Malfoy?" The man began to tremble.

Malfoy grabbed the man's collar roughly and threw him to the ground. He stood over him and said calmly, "J'irai facile sur vous parce que la fille est présente. Mais si je jamais vois que vous l'approchez d'encore je n'hésiterai pas pour vous tuer. Vous faire comprend?" The man began to tremble and continued to stare at him. "Do you understand!" he roared.

"Y-Yes Monsieur Malfoy"

"Now get up and leave this store" Malfoy said his voice once again calm. The man quickly stood up and ran, tripping over his robes many times, out of site. Malfoy turned around and walked over to Hermione who was still standing frightened against the wall. He stood in front of her and said softly, "Granger, when you dress like that you have to be careful. Not all men have good intentions. The bad guys here are not like where you are from. They could do much worse much faster. Always have your wand within reach" He sighed. "Are you alright?" She had never seen him look concerned before, and was shocked that he could be towards her. She nodded her head. "Did he hurt you?" She shook her head no. "Good." And without another word he swiftly spun around and walked over to the entrance and out the store.

Hermione watched him walk out of the store, confused by everything that had just happened. Well, only the part where Malfoy was concerned. She knew that if she wanted answers she would have to go after him, so that is what she did.

She ran out of the store and down the cobble road until she caught up with him. "Malfoy… what did…you say to… that guy?" she said gasping for breath. He smirked at her lack of athletic ability and replied "not much."

"Then why was he so scared?"

"I just said that you had some kind of muggle sexually transmitted disease."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. "I will just pretend that I did not hear you say that to me. Now I want to know why he was so scared you you!" she shrieked. Many people walking along the road turned to stare at the pair.

"Will you stop making a scene, Granger" hissed Malfoy as he roughly took her arm and dragged her into a nearby alley. " I will only answer you because if I don't I know you will go telling Harry and Ron and they can be damn annoying when they are trying to get information. That man is a former Death Eater."

"But Death Eaters aren't afraid of people on our side.."

"Granger" Malfor sighed. "I might be on the side of light, but I am still a Malfoy. And before you interrupt me I'm not talking about our money and blood and all that. I am saying that Malfoys are known to involved with the dark arts, we are the strongest in the dark arts in the wizarding society. This is _not_ a rumor. So you know what that means? With my father gone, I am the head of the Malfoy family. So _I_ am now considered the strongest wizard in the dark arts and believe me, this is _not_ a rumor either. That man was scared because he knows what I could do to him. Because you see, no matter what side I fight on, light or dark, no matter whether I am an angel or demon, because of what I know, what I am capable of, I will always be considered a very, _very_ dark wizard. That should answer your question." As he spoke his voice became lower and lower and he never broke eye contact with her. This made the hair stand up on the back of her neck and she began to shiver.

"But why did you help me?" she asked quietly, avoiding his eyes.

"The question portion of the conversation is now over, Granger" he said sharply as he began walking out of the alley. He stopped for a moment and turned his head slightly towards her. He said in a cheerful voice, "In case your wondering, I spoke to him in French because I know you hate that you cannot speak or understand it. Au revoir!" He walked out of the alley laughing leaving Hermione fuming in the dark.

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Hermione into the Three Broomsticks and walked over to the table where the five students were waiting for her while chatting and drinking their Butterbeers.

"Anything exciting happen at the bookstore, Mya?" Millicent asked sweetly.

Hermione looked at Malfoy who was looking right at her. "Yeah" she replied. "I found a new edition of Hogwarts: A History."

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French reanslation:

J'irai facile sur vous parce que la fille est présente. Mais si je jamais vois que vous l'approchez d'encore je n'hésiterai pas pour vous tuer- I will go easy on you because the girl is present. But if I ever see you near her again I will not hesitate to kill you.

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	6. Gone too far

The next couple of weeks were pretty quiet within the small group. Hermione and Draco didn't speak to one another unless it was related to Head duties and avoided each other as much as possible. If the other six noticed, they didn't say a word. They were just happy for the peace and quiet.

Draco sat in Potions one Thursday afternoon bored out of his mind. They weren't doing making a potion that class and he already knew all there was to know about the lecture Snape was going on and on about. Deciding that he needed something to distract him from the dull lecture, he allowed his eyes to wander around the class. After a few minutes he allowed his eyes to rest on Hermione. He had been doing that a lot lately, ever since the last Hogsmeade trip, glancing at her when she wasn't looking. Its not like he liked her or anything, but after what happened he felt this _need _to protect her. Ron and Harry were busy with their girlfriends (Ron admitted his feelings to Millicent the week before) and he would never really think of Blaise as the overly protective friend. So that left him with the unwanted job.

Its not that there were many dangers inside the walls of Hogwarts, but there were still students that were disgruntled with the defeat of Voldemort, students that had fought on the dark side. It was unknown who these few students were, but it was very likely that they would still want to hurt members of the light side. They wouldn't be very picky with who they chose, not in the least. And with the young men of the school showing much more interest in Hermione, Draco had more reason to be protective.

Draco continued to watch her while deep in thought, not noticing that his neighbor beside him saw what he was doing. Not until he felt the firm nudge in his side. Sighing, he turned to Blaise. "What?"

"When are you going to stop pretending?" Blaise said in a low voice.

"Stop pretending what?" Draco hissed. He hated when Blaise didn't get to the point right away.

"Pretending that you hate her"

"I never hated her…"

"…"

Draco sighed; there was no way he could get out of this. "You know how I am… Look, we can talk about this after class."

A few minutes later Snape finished his lecture about Merlin knows what and they were dismissed. Blaise practically dragged Draco out of the room, eager to know what was going on in his friend's blond head. Harry and Ron walked out of the classroom a few minutes behind them.

"You heard that?" Ron asked Harry.

"Of course I heard them, I'm not bloody deaf you know"

"That means our plan is working"

"What plan?"

"What plan?" Ron mimicked. "Merlin, Harry, does anything go through your head these days besides shagging Pansy?" Harry had become a bit absent minded after the war. He no longer had a huge weight on his shoulders so he was pretty much care free. "You do remember how we keep making sure that they are alone together besides when they are in their common room? Like the Hogsmeade trip?"

"Oh that plan? Do you think they like each other?"

"I don't know, but Draco has been looking at her an awful lot lately."

"That probably because she looks all hot again. Good job in getting her to do that. Draco has absolutely no reason to say anything negative about her appearance now. Are we still gonna tell them we are spending the weekend with our girls to keep them alone?"

"Yeah, we need them to get along soon, at most by Christmas holidays; I want to be able to hang out with everyone without all of the bickering."

"Ok, we'll tell them later."

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Draco threw himself onto his bed, he had a feeling he would not be enjoying his conversation with Blaise. He probably should have tried to ignore him while they were in class, but that would have only delayed the conversation. Might as well get it over with.

"So?" asked Blaise as he got comfortable in Draco's desk chair.

"So what?" replied Draco annoyed. 'Why the hell does he never just say what he wants to say' he thought irritably.

"You fancy Granger don't you?"

Draco was shocked. This certainly wasn't what he had expected to come from his best friend's mouth. "Merlin, no. Where in the world would you get that idea?"

"Oh, I don't know. The constant staring was a clue."

"Oh, that… See I'm not really staring at her, just kind of making sure she doesn't get herself into trouble."

"And when did you become Mya's protector?"

"When I had to save her from a Death Eater in Hogsmeade." Draco quickly told him the story of what happened.

Blaise laughed. "He actually ran out the store? Only you could cause such terror in a highly feared Death Eater."

Draco smirked. "You're just about as feared as I am. But anyways, that answers your question. If a Death Eater like him would go after her, what's to say that one that we don't know about in the school won't do it too? I mean it could be an accident that he found her, she looks totally different from how she looked during the war obviously, but you can never be too cautious."

Blaise was quiet for a moment. "You sure you don't fancy her? You never get angry like that usually. I was beginning to think that you don't experience that emotion anymore. Sounds like you might like her a little?"

"Look, no man should _ever _force himself onto a woman. It's one of the few noble things my father taught me before he died. I would've done it for anyone. As for the stuff in school, I'm just bored, Blaise. Not much to do now that the war is over with"

Blaise stood up from the chair and stretched. "I guess I'll accept that answer until I can get more proof. That and I think I hear Ginny in the common room getting all excited over something. So I better go and see what is going on." He walked over to the door and opened it.

"Hey Blaise" called Draco.

"What?"

"Sometimes I stare at her because I think she's pretty cute, even before she changed her style. Don't tell anyone though; people might think I am actually beginning to like her."

Blaise just chuckled and went down the stairs.

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Draco walked down the stairs to hear the girls chatting happily. He hadn't heard them this happy for a long time, so of course he was curious to what was going on. He walked over to Ginny who had just finished saying goodbye to Blaise. "Hey munchkin, what are you girls so happy about?"

"Oh, Hermione just got a date for tomorrow night."

"Granger got a date? Well, well, well, there is hope for everyone. Hey, Granger! Who's the date with?"

Hermione turned around to face him while the other girls became quiet. "Draco, please don't start an argument with her now." Ginny pleaded.

"I'm not starting anything, I am just curious. So Granger, who's it with?"

"Why do you care, Malfoy?"

"I don't really, I just want to know what guy was pathetic enough to ask you out."

Hermione tried to stay calm; she was not going to get angry. That was what he wanted. "His name is Jay and he is a Slytherin." She said simply.

"I don't know any Jay in Slytherin. What's his last name?"

"I don't know his last name. He is one of the seventh-year transfer students."

Draco didn't say anything for a moment. The girls thought that maybe they had been lucky to avoid yet another argument between the two. Just when they were about to give a sigh of relief, Draco exploded. "ARE YOU SO DESPERATE THAT YOU WOULD GO ON A DATE WITH SOME GUY THAT YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW!"

Pansy, Ginny, and Millicent just looked at each other. "Oh shit, it's going to start again. Let's let them work it out." Pansy mumbled while pulling them out of the Head's dorm.

"Who cares how well I know him? The point of a date is to get to know someone better!"

"Are you stupid? This guy is a transfer and he's a Slytherin. Do you even know where he came from? How do you know he didn't just ask you out to hurt you? Not all Slytherins are on the good side! I've never even heard of this guy!"

"You think everyone is a bloody Death Eater! Is it so hard to believe that this guy asked me out because he wants to get to know me better and not to finish Voldemorts work?"

Draco smirked. "Yeah actually it is. After all, the only guy that has ever shown you any interest was a buffoon that you aren't even together with any more."

Hermione's eyes began to water. "You know nothing about what went on with me and Victor." She hissed. At this point she was trying hard not to burst into tears from his comment.

"Oh did I hit a nerve. Did the big oaf kick you to the curb after he realized what a bore you were?"

Hermione couldn't hold back the tears anymore, but she had to say something, anything, to not let him have the last word. She said the first thing in her head. "You know what? If it makes you feel better you're right." Draco's eyes widened. " _I _broke up with _him_ because I caught him having sex with another girl while I was staying at his house." Hermione laughed harshly. "He told me that he loved me, but since I wasn't available at the time, and she was, he thought I'd understand. I hope it makes you feel better about yourself knowing that you were right about me for once." And with that she ran to her bedroom and slammed the door.

Draco stared at her door wishing he could have taken back what he had just said. He never thought that he would make her cry. As much as he didn't like her, he never argued with her in order to hurt her, only to make her obscenely angry. Draco sighed. He had been planning on going to dinner but he no longer had an appetite. He would just go upstairs and make it a really, really early night.

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Draco felt like hell as he walked to the Great Hall the next afternoon. He hadn't slept at all the night before, he kept replaying the argument from the day before and he felt bad. Draco wasn't used to feeling regret, he never regret anything a day in his life. It was taking over his thoughts, and combined with the fact that he was dead tired, he couldn't pay attention in his classes. He was lucky that he didn't have any exams, or else he would've been in big trouble.

Draco walked into the hall and a sat at the emptiest end of the Slytherin table; he was in no mood to interact with anyone. He distractedly scooped various foods onto his plate and let his mind wander again, he needed to figure out a way to stop feeling so bad. Draco was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't even notice when someone sat down next to him.

"Not hungry?" came the voice beside him.

"Huh?" Draco said looking at Blaise with a confused expression on his face.

"I noticed that you weren't at dinner last night or breakfast this morning, so I'm wondering how come you're not hungry now."

"Oh." Draco looked down at plate like he had never seen it before. "Guess I was distracted." He began to slowly eat his food.

"So what did you do?"

"What?"

"Well both you and Mya weren't at dinner last night, and Ginny told me that you had started another argument with her before she left. And judging by how Mya looked when she came to breakfast and how you're acting now I know something happened. So I ask again. What did you do?"

Draco sighed for the millionth time that day. He decided to be totally honest. "Blaise, I messed up. I think I finally went too far with her." He pushed his plate away and rested his cheek on his arms. "I never meant to make her cry. I just wanted her to get angry… I didn't know."

"Go on," Blaise said patiently.

"I was just annoyed that she accepted this date with some guy that no one knows, I mean I thought it was a stupid thing to do. And then it escalated to me bringing up Krum and.."

"Ok stop don't want to hear anymore. Victor Krum is a subject that is off limits with her and if she wanted me to know something about it she would tell me. As for the date thing, she'll be alright, it's not like they can leave the grounds. And as for what you should do, you should apologize."

"I don't think she would accept an apology from me. If she didn't hate me before she hates me now."

"She doesn't hate you…Mya is a very rational girl. If she sees that you are sincere in your apology, she will accept it. And I know you would be sincere, I know you would never intentionally make her cry."

Draco smiled for the first time of the day. "Glad for the vote of confidence. I just hope you're right."


	7. What is going on?

Disclaimer: Come on now, you all know I don't own it. No I am just a jobless recent college grad…

A/N: Thank you to everyone who answered my lil question. Since there was no majority either way, I think that I will just write as long of chapter as I have time for, but I will try to make them as long as I can.

You know, I was thinking. If this story were to be acted out, as it is in my head, I think I would want Draco to be played by Ryan Phillipe, that man is just too adorable. Then Hermione would be Jessica Alba (I don't care if she's Hispanic, this is my dream!). Harry can still be Daniel Radcliffe, just aged 5 years (that boy is going to be hot when he's older) and Ron could still be Rupert Grint (I don't know, there is something I really like about him). Ginny would be Lindsey Lohan (she is the only actress I know of with red hair) and Pansy would be Christina Aguilera (when she looked more natural). Blaise would be that hot guy who plays Chad on Passions (honestly, we need a bit more diversity) and I haven't figured out who Millie would be. Ok story time now!

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Hermione skipped dinner that evening in order to get the sleep she had missed the night before. Last night's argument had brought back a flood of memories from her horrible break up with Victor. The whole event would've been much easier if he hadn't endlessly tried to contact her after she had left his house, but because of this, it had stretched on for months. She no longer had any romantic feelings for him, but the memory was still very painful for her.

Hermione sat on her bed listening to some music. She had put on a silencing charm on her door just in case Draco was near. She was ashamed that she had blurted out the reason she and Krum were longer together and she didn't want him to know that she was still thinking about it. See, Hermione listened to certain kinds of songs depending on her mood, and now she was listening to a sad love song. She didn't want Draco to hear it.

"When you left I lost a part of me, it's still so hard to believe, come back baby please, 'cause we belong together…" went the song. Hermione sighed. "I really shouldn't be listening to this right now," she mumbled to herself. Just when she was about to mutter the spell to turn off the player, there was a knock on the door.

"Patefacio" she said while waving her wand at the door. "Come in!"

The door opened and within a few second she could see Draco standing in her door way. She looked at his disheveled appearance and debated to herself whether or not to let him in. She wasn't angry with him for making him cry, just for being heartless as usual.

"I only think of you, and it's breaking my heart, I'm trying to keep it together, but I'm falling apart…" continued the song in the background. Hermione hastily turned off the player embarrassed that Draco heard what she was listening to.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" said Hermione, trying her best to hide her embarrassment.

"I just wanted to talk to you about yesterday." He said.

"I don't want to fight with you right now, Malfoy…" she replied tiredly.

"I don't want to argue either. Can I come in?"

"… yeah"

Draco inwardly gave a sigh of relief. He had been worried that she wouldn't even give him a chance to explain. He walked into her bedroom, turned her desk chair so that it faced her, and sat down.

"well?" Hermione said a bit impatiently.

"I want to apologize about yesterday"

"Oh?" she raised her eyebrows.

"Well not about your date thing, but for what I said about Krum. I didn't know that was the reason you two broke up. I mean, honestly, I knew you had to have broken up with him, not the other way around. He's a brilliant Quiddich player, but other than that he's a bloody idiot."

"But you said something different last night."

"Yeah I know. I say a lot of things I don't mean just to get you angry. But you do remember that I had called him an oaf and a buffoon. You really were too smart for him. Anyway, what I am trying to say is, I really wasn't trying to hurt you. I honestly never thought anything I said could have that affect on you. I just hope that you will accept my apology."

Hermione watched him the whole time he was speaking. She knew he was being sincere. Though his voice was strong and confident, his eyes kept moving back and forth nervously. She decided to wait a little bit before accepting the apology.

"You look tired, Malfoy. Not getting enough sleep?"

Draco groaned inwardly. He knew had known that this wasn't going to be easy. "I didn't sleep much last night; I mean I don't make women cry very often. Well, unless they are crying in pleasure while they are beneath me." He smirked. Sometimes, he just couldn't help but be a smug bastard.

"Ugh! You are disgusting. I will only accept your apology if it means that you will leave. Now get out so that I can get changed."

Draco chuckled. Well, at least he had gotten her mind off that sorry excuse for a wizard. He stood up, left the chair where it was, and walked over to the door. "Be careful on your date tonight, Granger," he said before he closed her door.

Hermione stared at the door a moment after he left. Something was a little off about the way she and Draco were lately. She turned around quickly and headed for the bathroom, she had a lot to do to be ready for her date.

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Hermione walked back to the common room dejectedly, she had had a very long night. The evening had started out perfectly. Jay met her on time in front of the Great Hall (she had told him to meet her there because she didn't want Draco to start flipping out). He had set up a nice picnic in one of the empty classrooms that he had charmed to look like a grassy hilltop. Afterwards, they had danced to music that he had charmed to play. Hermione was elated to have found such a perfect gentleman.

But then he started to get a little too comfortable with her. Trying to touch her intimately, when she obviously had no desire to be touched by him. After all, she had only really gotten to know her. After politely moving away from him a few times, she got fed up and told him to stop. He became really angry, saying some nasty things. So, of course, in Hermione she slapped him and stormed out the room.

Now she just hoped that Draco wouldn't be in the common room when she got into their shared dorm. When she reached to portrait of the lion and the snakeshe said the password "ne jamais juger un livre" ('I really need to get the translation to this' she thought distractedly) and walked into the common room. She gave a sigh of relief when she saw that it was pitch dark and turned toward the stairs that led to her bedroom.

"Have a nice date, Granger?"

Hermione drew in sharp breath, he had deeply startled her. She quickly regained her composure. "Sneaking around in the dark again, Malfoy?"

She heard a chuckle from somewhere on the far side of the room. "I was just about to relight the fireplace. Dozed off while working on my History of Magic essay."

Suddenly the fireplace came back to life and she could clearly see Malfoy looking at her. "I thought you would be out with the boys creating some mischief."

"You seem to have forgotten that they abandoned me this weekend for their girlfriends. But seeing how you aren't prone to being very forgetful, I would say that you are trying to avoid my previous question. So how was your date?"

"It was fine, Malfoy."

"You know you are a horrible liar…"

"Fine, you can rub it in my face that you were right. He was a complete bastard."

"Aww, do you need a hug?"

"Ugh, you know, Malfoy..." she had started before suddenly becoming enveloped in his embrace. She had no idea how he had moved so quickly from the other side of the room with out her noticing. 'Must be all that Death Eater training he went through' she thought absently.

She was surprised with how quickly she relaxed into his arms. Hermione was no fool. She knew more than half the girls in the school would have given anything to be where she was. Draco was gorgeous there was no denying it, with his angelic handsomeness in addition to his dark wizard gone good status; he was the object of many fantasies. If it weren't for his horrible attitude towards, and the fact that she didn't like when men had long hair, she might be one of the girls who dreamed of being with him.

"When I asked if you needed a hug I was actually offering you one," he said softly. "You just looked like you need one." Hermione just stood there not saying a word, still shocked that he had hugged and even more shocked that he wasn't making any moves to let her go. "So what happened?"

"Too make a long story short, he was a perfect gentleman until he started to grope me. I smacked him, he threatened me, and I left." Hermione began to discretely take deep breaths, she could feel her hear rate begin to rise. As she did so she noticed his cologne. She was very surprised that he wore a muggle scent, Acqua Di Gio to be exact; she knew this because it was one of her favorite colognes for men to wear. He wore it well, too well; it was making her even more aware of her body being held close to his.

Draco was silent for a moment and began lightly running his left hand up and down her back. "He threatened you? What did he say?"

"Oh, not much, just that I was a tease, and that I'd pay for leading him on… something like that I wasn't really paying attention." She answered vaguely. She was much too focused on the hand moving along her back.

"You? A tease? I highly doubt you would know how to be one. Vous êtes une fille douce, Granger." Hermione shivered. She would never admit it to Malfoy, but she had always thought that men who spoke another language were extremely sexy. Well men who spoke a romance language were sexy. Whenever Victor had spoken in Bulgarian she was turned off, immediately.

"Did you just insult me in French, Malfoy?"

"If I was going to insult you, I would make sure that you could understand it. No, Granger, I have just said what is truthfully the nicest thing I have ever said to you. But, I didn't want it to go to your head." He pulled away from her at that moment leaving her with a strange feeling of loss. "I'm going to get some sleep, trying comfort you while holding back insults is tiring. Good night, Granger." He began to walk over to the stairs.

"Hey Malfoy?"

"Yes Granger."

"Why aren't we friends?" she asked softly.

Draco chuckled. He turned around and looked at her. "We are friends, Granger. It's just that we are friends who don't really like each other, insult each other, and call each other by our last names. We just have a different kind of friendship. Now, no more warm and fuzziness. I am going to bed." And with that he spun around and went to his bed.

Hermione, once again, stared in the direction that he had gone. 'There is definitely something weird going on between us' she thought.

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Hermione avoided Malfoy for the rest of the weekend. She was still a bit unsettled by the events of Friday evening, well, just the events that concerned Malfoy. Hermione ran through the scene many times over the course of Saturday and Sunday, and each time ended more confused than ever. But she did have to admit, when Malfor was nice, he did seem to have the whole package, girly hair and all. 'Lets just hope he never cuts his hair, 'cause I might be in trouble then' she thought at one point.

So now on Monday morning Hermione walked towards the Great Hall for breakfast. She was actually looking forward to being with Harry and Ron after her weekend. She had missed them. The group had made a deal a long time ago that they would always sit at their respective house tables, this way they didn't totally alienate the rest of their housemates. Recently, Hermione became even more glad by this rule, if everyone had sat with their girlfriends/boyfriends, she would have felt totally left out. It wasn't as if she would willingly speak to Malfoy throughout a whole meal. She liked her meals without food being thrown at her, thank you very much.

She could sit with Parvati and Lavender, she supposed, but she couldn't be bothered with them prattling on about how much their clothes cost and how hot Malfoy was. When they had asked if she could set one of them up with him she had shuddered. It was bad enough having to deal with him all the time, but to have to deal with one of snobs as well? She could do without it. Then there was Neville, Dean, and Seamus. As much as she liked the three boys, lately they had taken to blatantly staring at her when in their presence, it gave her the creeps. Pretty much made it hard to have a real conversation with them.

Hermione took her usual place across from Harry and Ron. Since they were talking about new Quiddich strategies she let her eyes wander around the hall. From her seat at the Gryffindor table she could see the Slytherin table clearly. Malfoy was there already, staring at the more populated side of the table, seemingly lost in thought, until Blaise nudged him. They spoke for a short while, Draco with his usual face of boredom while Blaise seemed to be getting more amused with each second that passed. After a moment, Blaise got up from the table, walked over to Ginny and spoke shortly with her, then went back to say something to Malfoy before sitting down and continuing his breakfast.

'I wonder what that was all about' she thought before turning back to her meal.

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Draco was looking down to the end of his table with well concealed interest. There were quite a few new Slytherins in the school this year, after the destruction of a couple of smaller wizarding schools during the war. Usually he made sure to know everyone in his house, but with his Head duties, and along with the fact that he no longer lived in the Slytherin dorm, it was difficult to do so. He would just have to be content with the fact that they all knew who he was. He was trying to figure out which one of these new seventh years had gone out with Granger on Friday, it could be anyone one of the ten guys. While lost in his search he felt a nudge in his ribs.

"What's wrong with you?" asked Blaise with a smirk.

"Nothing, just spaced out I guess"

"So how was your weekend?"

"Pretty uneventful. Look I need you to do something for me?"

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"I need you to find out which one of these guys Granger went out with on Friday. I would try, but I know I wouldn't get any answers"

Blaise began to grin. "And why would you want to know that?"

"I want to talk to him about something."

Blaise seemed to get even more amused by this. "What do you want to talk to him about?"

Draco sighed; Blaise could be really annoyed when he wanted to be. "He did something I didn't like, so I want to talk to him about it."

Blaise laughed. "Ok, I'll be right back." And with that he stood up and walked over to the Gryffindor table.

Blaise came back a short while later and sat down. He leaned in close to Draco and spoke softly. "That guy sitting across from us, two people down. The one with the close cut brown hair, that's him." He went back to his breakfast.

Draco discretely watched the guy with interest. He had to admit, Granger did have good taste in the looks department. The guy looked fairly tall, maybe about 5'11 give or take an inch and was pretty tan. Draco tuned into his conversation.

"…yeah she is pretty hot for a good girl…bitch wanted it… wouldn't give it up…tease…told her I'd get it from her sooner or later…(laughter)"

Draco heard all that he needed to hear.

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Hermione was half listening to the pair in front of her. She would never understand how they could go on for so long about Quiddich. Just went she was about the zone out she heard a loud gasp and crash over by the Slytherin table. She shifted her gaze quick enough to see Malfoy dragging a guy across the table by the collar of his shirt. She could see him speaking to the guy but couldn't hear what he was saying. She figured it was loud enough so that the only person that could hear was Blaise, who was looking at the scene with amusement.

Hermione wasn't surprised that none of the other Slytherins came to the boy's aid. After all, even the few Slytherin who despised Malfoy for going to the other side during the war were not stupid enough to get on his bad side. But she was surprised by her friend's reactions. Pansy and Millie were continuing their conversation as if nothing happened, Blaise looking like he was seeing the best show ever, and Ginny was just gathering her things together to get to her next class. Harry and Ron's reaction were the strangest of them all. At first it looked as if they were going to both run over there, when Harry stopped Ron.

"Hey, 'Mione. Isn't that the guy you went out with?"

Hermione looked closer at the scene and was shocked that she hadn't noticed before. "Yeah it is."

After she replied the two began to act as if nothing was happening. Even the teachers weren't doing anything; they looked the same as before. 'What is going on here' she thought. As if reading her mind Ron mumbled something about a distraction charm and went on happily talking about Quiddich. Hermione looked up again in time to see Draco dragging a terrified Jay out of the Great Hall.

"What the hell is going on?" she said aloud.

The song in the beginning of the chapter is Mariah Carey's We Belong together. I barely ever see R&B songs in the fanfictions and I think they are perfect for Draco and Hermione stories. And since it is my favorite genre of music if will also have to be Hermione's. Expect more in future chapters!

French translation:

vous êtes une fille douce- you are a sweet girl

Reviews and suggestions are greatly appreciated.


	8. everything is different

Disclaimer: See other chapters.

A/N: Ok people, I know that I took a long time with this, but… I really don't have a good reason. I'm just lazy. But, I did make this chapter way longer than the rest for all you people that wanted longer chapters. But I don't think they will be this long again. Once again I warn you that I used a translation site, because unfortunately, I only speak one language. I know, so sad… On with the story!

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Hermione never did see what happened to Jay that day. By the time she had left the Great Hall to enter the corridor, it was empty. It's not that she really even cared about what happened to him, but she did have an idea of how powerful Malfoy was. None of her friends spoke of the incident during the day, which was really strange, and since she didn't have class with the Slytherins on Moday, she didn't even see Malfoy. Hermione was determined to find out what had happened.

Hermione was currently in her room changing her clothes to prepare for a long night of studying. After grabbing a quick dinner, she had taken a short nap. She knew that Draco would have to be in the dorm by now so it was the perfect time to get her answers. She threw on a royal blue tank that fell just below her belly button that said Guess? on the front in silver writing and some low-rise, fitted, black shorts. It was skimpier than the outfits she would normally wear but it was comfortable and after a few hours of studying in the fireplace, the common room felt like a sauna.

'The only person I'm going to see tonight is Malfoy, and who cares about what he thinks about my appearance' she thought as she quickly gathered her hair into a messy bun, gathered her school bag and went downstairs into the common room.

The minute she walked into the room she could see Malfoy reading his History of Magic text. She knew that he hadn't noticed her which she was glad for because it could be used to her advantage. Hermione slammed her bag on the table in front of him.

Malfoy sighed and lowered his book to look at her. "Granger…" he said slowly as his eyes leisurely wandered over her body. His face broke into a slow sexy grin. "What do I owe the pleasure?"

"Ugh, Malfoy, can you stop looking at me like I'm about to be your next conquest? It's sickening." She was annoyed with how good he looked at the moment. 'Just remember that this is Malfoy, the foulest student at this school' she told herself.

"Oh? And here I was thinking that you were trying to impress me with your little outfit in my favorite colors… Oh you look surprised. Contrary to popular belief my favorite colors happen to be blue and silver, though I do like green a lot."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "If you're done with your autobiography now, I would like to talk to you."

He groaned. "Just ruin my fun Granger." Malfoy picked up his book. "Well talk away, I'm listening. He smirked as Hermione gave him a frustrated sigh.

"I want to know what happened between you and Jay this morning."

"Between me and who?

"God, you are annoying. Jay, you know the guy you pulled across the table during breakfast."

Malfoy put down his book. "Oh him…a nice bloke. Jay you said his name was?"

Hermione held herself back. She knew if she became angry she would never get the answers she wanted. "What did you do to him?"

Malfoy stretched giving her peek at his perfectly defined stomach. She shifted her eyes. 'He should have a pot belly, not… that' she thought.

"You see Granger. I've been so terribly bored around here, now that the war had ended. And now that I have been branded a good guy I can't just go around hexing people anymore, can I? But," he said breaking into a huge smile. "You gave me a way to have my fun, still be good, and show people that I still can be evil if I want."

"What…did…you…do!" Hermione was getting tired of his avoidance of the question.

"Oh, it's not important." Malfoy picked up his text once again. "But he won't be going through with his threat now that I've dealt with him."

Hermione sighed; she knew she wasn't going to get anymore more information on that particular topic. "Well can you explain to me why all of our friends acted as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening?"

"Oh now that's easy. If you're trying to keep something a secret don't tell Ginny. She told the rest of the group. And as far as them not doing anything, can you imagine them even caring if something bad happens to him after what he did?" Malfoy looked over his book at her.

Hermione sighed loudly; she was just frustrated with this conversation. She turned to walk to the other side of the table and start her schoolwork, when Malfoy's arm shot out and pulled her back so that she was now sitting across his lap.

"What are you doing!" she shrieked. He looked at her for a moment then raised his eyebrow in true Malfoy fashion. 'Why is he looking at me like that… omg! He noticed that I haven't made one move to get off his lap!' she groaned inwardly.

"What are you doing, Malfoy?" she repeated in a much calmer voice trying to conceal her embarrassment.

"You're not honestly angry about this morning are you?" he asked softly, putting his arms around her waist loosely.

Hermione ignored the fluttering in her stomach. "Nothing is solved through violence, Malfoy," she replied haughtily.

"Look, with guys like Jacob Myers, that's his name by the way, talking won't work. The Myers are a really old wizarding family, not Voldemort supporters, but very evil never the less. You have to take their threats seriously. I won't tell you what I did, but I will say that he will not be coming near you for a long time." he continued in a soft voice, tightening his arms around her very slightly.

"This is the second nice thing you've done for me in the past 2 months. I don't understand you sometimes, Malfoy…" she said while looking him in his eyes. She had never seen them this close, and they were even more amazing than she had originally thought.

Malfoy smiled. "Ne jamais juger un livre, Granger. Never judge a book…"

Hermione just stared at him. It really wasn't the time for him to be speaking French to her, especially with her being so close to him and his wonderful cologne. She really needed to get him to be his arrogant self again, because arrogance she could understand. She had to do something.

"You really need a haircut" she said softly reaching for a blond lock surprised that he didn't flinch. She had hoped that he would have freaked out over her touching his precious hair.

"I know" he replied with the same softness. He leaned towards her. "I have a guess" he breathed into her ear.

"What?" she replied, very distracted by his close proximity.

"Your shirt… I have a guess"

"Oh… what's that?"

"I'm guessing that you're not wearing a bra, mind if I see if I'm right?" he said tugging lightly on the hem of her shirt.

Hermione jumped off his lap, her trance totally shattered. "You disgusting pervert!" she yelled.

His only reply was laughter as she stormed out of the room with her schoolbag.

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At the same moment, Blaise and Millicent were in the Slytherin common room finishing their home work. Blaise had been absorbed in his Astronomy chart when a conversation from behind the couch distracted him.

"So what did Malfoy do to you Jay?"

"Oh nothing, he's all talk you know." Blaise muffled a snort as he heard this.

"I hear he's a pretty powerful wizard though… I wouldn't want to be on his bad side."

"Oh please, those are just rumors. If we were to have a wizard's duel, I would definitely be victorious."

Blaise stood up from the couch and made himself known to the two wizards behind him. "Is that so, Jacob?" he said with a smirk as the boy's eyes widened. "I was under the impression that Draco was the far superior wizard. He never did tell me what happened in the hallway, but I'm sure I have a pretty good idea. Would you like a repeat episode to refresh your memory?"

"N-no, Blaise." The boy looked absolutely terrified. Blaise broke into a huge smile.

"Are you sure? I would be glad to help you remember since it seems you have lost your memory." Jacob shook his head almost spastically. "No? Oh well, just remember what he told you earlier, ok?" The boy nodded his head. "Good, now run along so I can finish my work in peace." Jacob practically sprinted from the room up to the boy's dorms. Blaise chuckled. If he had to be second to anyone, he was happy it was to a powerful dark wizard like Draco.

Millicent looked at him as he returned to his seat next to him. "Have fun?" she said amused.

"Of course. It's been a while since I been allowed to play with the children." He smirked.

Millicent rolled her eyes. "With you and Draco on him now, he would never even think of looking at her wrong. Wonder what he would do if we put Harry and Ron on him."

"Harry probably wouldn't even bother. He'd figure me and Draco could handle it. But Ron, I don't know. Your boyfriend is a loose cannon, I'd be afraid he'd kill him if he was angry enough." She chuckled at this and turned back to her chart.

"Hermione is lucky to have Draco protecting her like that. It's weird, considering they don't like each other. I imagine that we should keep the reason behind this Jacob thing a secret if we ever want her to get another date." she said thoughtfully

"Or we could tell the school so no one will go out with her. Then make her feel so lonely that she'll have to resort to being nice to Draco."

Millicent laughed. "You are such a bastard."

"I know. Now let's finish this thing so we can get to bed."

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Draco was in a surprisingly good mood as he walked towards Slytherin dormitory that Friday morning. He had been having a wonderful week and he didn't think anything could bring him down. First he got to scare the hell out of Jacob Myers, then he earned top marks on two exams (beating Granger on one of them), and then he earned a special trip to Hogsmeade for some research he had done for Snape. Draco was so happy he could whistle, but it is not as if he would, Malfoy's didn't whistle.

Draco said the Slytherin password (silver snake) and walked into the common room. He noticed a familiar brown headed boy scribbling some last minute answers on a piece of parchment.

"Jayyy-cooob," Draco sang as he walked towards to boy. Jacob looked up with wide, terrified eyes. "You look a little frightened, is something…wrong?" Jacob just continued to stare at him. Draco was about to continue when Blaise came down the stps and into the room.

"Hey Draco, see your early for once." Blaise looked at the boy on the couch. "Oh, hiii Jacob. I'm glad you're here. I was going to tell Draco about our conversation last night, is that ok?" Jacob's eyed widened more and when he opened his mouth only a few squeaks could be heard. "What was that? You sure aren't acting like a powerful wizard right now. You're beginning to bore me, be a good boy and go somewhere else." And for the second time in Blaise's presence, Jacob ran out of the room.

Draco laughed. "Putting fear into the hearts of the new Slytherin, are we, Zabini?

"You're not the only one allowed to have fun Draco. Let's get going to breakfast."

The two left the Slytherin common room and walked towards the Great Hall. Blaise figured it was as good a time as any to find out what happened on Monday.

"So, Draco what did you do to him after you left breakfast on Monday."

"I was wondering how long it would take you to ask me that. Almost five days, I'm impressed by your self-restraint. I used an enhanced Ennervate on him."

"Isn't Ennervate only used to revive someone that passed out? I don't see how that is any kind of punishment."

"Yes, it is used for that, but do you know what it does to someone when they are conscious? It's like what the muggles call 'electric shock treatment' and it's very… unpleasant. Now, use the enhanced version and the discomfort increases ten fold. Three rounds of it had him blubbering like a baby."

Blaise laughed. "That is brilliant! And you can't really get in trouble for it because no one knows it for that use. You'll have to teach me it one day."

"Yeah, just tell Granger. I don't want her getting all pissy with me about it."

"I wouldn't dream of telling her."

The pair continued down the hall in silence, each lost in his own thoughts. Upon entering the Great Hall, they sat down at the Slytherin table and began spooning food onto their plates. They then began to eat their food in silence.

After ten minutes of eating Draco blurted out, "I wanted to kiss Granger Monday night."

Blaise stopped his fork mid-lift and blinked at him. "Well that was… unexpected. Though, I can't say I am surprised, she is a beautiful girl. But I am surprised that you actually let yourself want to kiss her." Blaise said with a smirk.

Draco groaned. "It's all her fault. She comes in with a skimpy little outfit acting all snotty and then she's on my lap and all I can do is think about how it would be to kiss her."

"Wait a second, start from the beginning all I heard was "skimpy outfit" and "lap" so I need to hear this whole story."

"You just want to make this even more difficult for me… Okay, Monday night she comes into the room demanding that I tell her what happened with Jacob. But she is wearing this little shirt and short shorts and I'm having a little trouble concentrating on what she is saying. She's got this hot little tattoo, not the Order one, but this other one on her hip bone, but you can only see the tip and I really want to see the rest. And the silver belly button ring…oh man. But anyway, so she is angry with me as usual and starts to walk away but I don't let her because she hasn't heard what I had to say. So I pull her back, she ends up on my lap, and I start explaining some stuff to her. Then I start feeling this urge to kiss her and I knew I had to get her leave. So I said something obnoxious, she got angry, and left."

"That was quite a story. Are you finally admitting that you fancy her?"

"No! Will you get off that already? She has a hot little body and it was just messing with my mind. Let's just drop it."

"Fine, I'll leave it." Blaise looked across the hall at the Gryffindor table. "Hey, why are the girls crowded around Mya like that?"

Draco looked over and saw Granger speaking excitedly to Ginny, Millie, and Pansy while holding something that looked as if it had come from the red wrapping on the table. "Looks like she received a package just now." Draco replied with a faint smile on his face.

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Hermione sat down at a table in Advanced Arithmancy in a great mood. This was the few classes at the moment that was challenging her, though this past weekend she had done the reading for the next couple of weeks. On a whole the class was extremely difficult so only ten students were enrolled. This made it possible for every student to have their own desk if he or she wanted. She was happy for this because Malfoy, who was also in the class, would never be assigned to sit near her. And for the most part he stayed on the side of the room that was opposite of her, unless he was in an annoying mood.

Hermione looked up as the heard Malfoy throw his book down on her table just as class was about to begin. 'Guess it's one of those days' she thought as she groaned inwardly.

The professor had been lecturing for about twenty minutes when Hermione heard "Pst!"

Hermione looked over at Malfoy. "What!" she hissed.

"What did you get by owl this morning?" he whispered.

"You interrupted me during this important lesson for that?"

"Granger, let's not pretend that you don't already know this material. If I know it, you know it." Hermione couldn't really say anything to that because it was true. "So what did you get?"

"Nothing, just something from my parents."

"Don't you realize by now I know when you are lying?"

Hermione didn't answer him; she didn't feel like sharing this piece of information with him. She felt a poke in her side and drew in a quick breath. "What!" she hissed again.

"I am aware that you are extremely ticklish. If you don't tell me I will poke you until the professor kicks you out of class."

"You wouldn't"

"Try me."

Hermione sighed and leaned over to rummage in her school bag. She pulled out a silver box with a note attached and handed it to him. Malfoy read the note aloud quietly to himself.

"Dear My Gryffindor Princess (he snorted), When I saw this necklace I thought of you. A rare and beautiful necklace for a girl with a rare beauty. I hope you like it as much as I like you. Sincerely, Your Secret Admirer." Malfoy chuckled softly. "Bloke's a bit on the soft side, don't you think?" Hermione just glared at him as he opened the box.

Inside the box was a thin silver (or maybe platinum) necklace with a beautiful pendant. The pendant was rose quartz colored flat, square-shaped stone, with a hole in the center. Within the center was an intricate silver weaving.

"I hope you don't plan on wearing this." Draco said after he had examined the necklace.

"And why wouldn't I?"

"Look at the stone, see how it looks like smoke is moving throughout it?"

Hermione leaned over to look at the stone. What he had said was indeed true; she just never noticed it before. "Yeah, so?"

"Well it's full of magic, quite possible dark magic. Who knows, maybe when you put it on you will be cursed terribly. After all, who would admire you? I think you should wait until I am able to look at it before you put it on."

"Why? So you can deem it full of dark magic and let me get cursed? Or so you can get rid off it somehow and the person who sent it will think I don't like him."

Malfoy smirked. "You know me so well. Just don't put on the necklace."

"Like I'm going to listen to you." She snapped as she quickly took back the necklace. She then clasped it around her neck in one swift motion. She took the note and box back from him and placed them back into her schoolbag, not noticing that Malfoy was smiling at her.

"It could be from Jacob."

"I thought you dealt with him already."

"Glad to hear you are so sure of my abilities."

"Oh please, Malfoy, you could make a grown man wet his pants."

Though pleased, Malfoy decided to ignore this comment. "Maybe one of his friends sent it."

Hermione just scoffed at him.

"Well, it's a shame I will be gone all weekend. I would love to see what horrible things happen to you."

"Oh just shut it, Malfoy."

Malfoy smirked, lay his head on his arms that were crossed on his desk and closed his eyes. It looked as if he was actually going to listen to her for once. Now she could concentrate on the lecture.

After a couple of minutes she grew frustrated; she already knew everything the professor was talking about. Hermione let her eyes wander around the room until they rested on Malfoy's sleeping form.

'He looks so innocent when he's sleeping. I guess it's an advantage to look so good and be capable of such evil. Merlin, he's gorgeous, with his perfectly clear skin, and silky blond hair, and gorgeous light blue eyes…eyes that are now open, oh shit!" Hermione quickly turned her attention to the professor.

"What time is it?" she heard him softly ask. Hermione looked at her watch.

"We have five more minutes."

Hermione tried to concentrate on the last few minutes but it was impossible with Malfoy still looking at her. Exasperated, she turned to him and said, "Why are you staring at me?"

Malfoy gave her a slow, and incredibly sexy, smile. "Probably for the same reason you were staring at me."

"Oh please, I just happened to look at you right when you opened your eyes."

Malfoy sat up in his chair and stretched. At the same moment the professor dismissed the class. He stood up, picked up his school bag and book, and turned to her. "Granger, for as long as you've know me, when was the last time I slept in a class?" Without waiting for a response, he walked out of the classroom.

Hermione stared after him after he left. She knew the answer to his question. He never slept in class; he had been watching her the whole time.

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Draco had had an incredibly busy weekend. The better part of the weekend was spent putting all of him family affairs in order, which was not an easy task. Though the family had many financial advisors, the final decision on any matter was his. He really thought that he was much too young to be in his position, but he had no choice. After all it was his fault he was now the head of the Malfoy household.

The remainder of the weekend filled with spending time with his mother and doing a few things for himself. He finally had the time to get himself a haircut, which he was glad for because he was tired of looking like a replicate of his father, and was experimenting with a new hairstyle.

Now, once again back at Hogwarts, he towards the portrait to his common room, arms filled with packages. He said the password (ne jamais juger un livre) and walked it to see all his friends relaxing and having a good time.

"Woah, someone has finally decided to use a pair of scissors on his hair and lighten his straightening charm."

Draco laughed. "Knew I could always count on you to give an objective opinion, Blaise." A little known fact about Draco was that his hair was not naturally straight, it was in fact quite curly. He just charmed it straight every morning so that he wouldn't look even more innocent that he already looked. Now his hair looked to be more on the wavy side.

"I brought a ton of food and snacks back for all of us." Draco said indicating to the bags he was putting onto the coffee table. "I brought dinner for tonight so we don't have to go down to the great hall."

"Hey Draco, come over here for a second. I want to talk to you about something." Blaise called, walking to the other side of the room while everyone sorted through the bags.

"What's up?" Draco said once he reached Blaise.

"I wanted to talk to you about Hermione's necklace."

"What about it?" Draco asked, confused.

"Good job of making sure she'd wear the gift you got her."

Draco was shocked. "How did you know it was from me?"

Blaise laughed. "Are you kidding me? It was easy to figure out. First thing was that is an outrageously expensive necklace."

"There are like… twenty guys in our year who are rich enough including us and Harry."

"Yes, but number two is that the person would have to have exquisite taste to pick that necklace."

"Ok that leaves five guys including you, me and Harry."

"And number three is that she told me that you said that it could be full of dark magic and she shouldn't wear it. It's obvious to you and me what kind of magic is in the necklace and you knew she would wear it just to spite you because she likes to do the opposite of what you say."

"I have to be careful around you from now on if I want to keep secrets. Does she know that I sent it? And does she know what it is?"

"No…" Blaise suddenly looked over Draco's shoulder. "Non sa che lei l'abbia inviato."

"è lí qualcuno venendo?" Draco asked without any hesitation.

"Sì, la principesse di Gryffindor e Slytherin sono dietro lei."

"I hate when the two of them start doing this shit, speaking to each other in Italian so no one can understand what they are saying." Draco heard Pansy say behind him as he turned around.

"You speak Italian too, Malfoy?" Granger asked.

"Obviously, Granger. Jealous that you're not sophisticated enough to speak more than one?" Draco said with a smirk.

"I'm fluent in Spanish, for your information." Granger replied hotly.

"¿Así que usted habla español, usted se siente especial?" Draco replied instantly.

Granger narrowed her eyes. "How many languages, exactly, do you speak?"

"I know many languages, Granger, but I am only considered fluent in French, Spanish, Latin, and of course English."

Hermione tried not to look impressed. "How is that even possible?"

"Seriously, Granger, what did you think we did before we came to Hogwarts? Twiddle our thumbs and wait to turn eleven?"

"What he means to say that everyone who was born and raised in the wizarding world had some kind of school before they attended wizards school. And all purebloods know more that one language." Pansy said.

"Yeah, I speak Italian, Pansy speaks Russian, Millie speaks Japanese, Ron and Ginny speak…what the hell is it…oh yeah, German, and Draco here has his multitude of languages." continued Blaise.

"I like to concentrate on the languages that get the ladies all hot and bothered." Draco replied while looking intently at Granger. When he saw her eyes widen slightly and her cheeks turn slightly pink he knew he was right on point. She was one of those ladies.

She recovered quickly. "You are disgusting." She said and walked over to where the others were sitting.

"You should stop teasing her." Pansy said while Blaise nodded in agreement.

"Maybe one day, but for now it is just too fun to stop." Draco said before steering to conversation to what happened over the weekend.

The three Slytherins stood there talking for about half an hour until Pansy and Blaise got into a light-hearted argument over the advantages of using one wand motion over another. Draco, bored by the conversation and also knowing that Blaise would win the argument, allowed himself to look to see what the others were doing. Ron, Harry and Ginny were discussing Quiddich plays loudly on the couch while Millie and Granger were speaking quietly by the window. He let his eyes linger on Granger.

She was wearing a red silk camisole that flared a bit past her waste, a pair of cream slim fit pants, and silver slide sandals. Her long hair was straightened and pulled into a low side ponytail and the whole look was accentuated with silver hoop earrings, bracelets, and of course, the necklace. Draco, though reluctantly, thought she looked sophisticated and beautiful.

While lingering he saw Grangers eyes leave Millie and come to a rest on his. She didn't shift her eyes like he expected her to, but continue to look at him with a dazed expression. Suddenly, she shifted her focus back to Millie, said something to her quickly, and suddenly left the common room through the portrait. Draco excused himself from Pansy and Blaise and walked over to Millie.

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Hermione was leaning against the wall with her eyes closed in a deserted hallway near her common room. She had told Millie that she had needed to go for a walk, which she had until her thoughts were so consuming that she needed to stop. All she could do at the moment was think about Draco.

Everything seemed different about their relationship lately. By all means they still weren't friends, but something had changed, she felt it, but she still couldn't put her finger on it. Hermione had spent some time over the weekend thinking about the situation, but after a while figured it was pointless. She came to the conclusion that she had been imagining that anything was different.

She was fine until he walked into the common room that afternoon. It just wasn't fair that something simple thing like a new hair could make the man she loathed look even more gorgeous. It would now be even harder to keep her eyes off of him. Add that to the fact that she now knew he spoke the languages that made her melt, and for some reason she had the feeling that he knew this.

Then there was the way he had looked at her before she left the common room. It was uncharacteristic for him to look at her so thoughtfully. She felt something unexplainable when he had looked at her like that, and she didn't like it. That is why she left.

'Ugh! Why can't I stop thinking about that evil git? I mean, it's not as if I didn't already know that he was good looking!' Hermione thought furiously. 'Great! Now I am even imagining the smell of his cologne! I must be losing my mind.' Hermione sighed.

"Granger." Suddenly said a voice next to her.

Hermione groaned but kept her eyes closed. He was not the person she wanted to be near at the moment. "What do you want, Malfoy?"

"I always thought walking involved some kind of movement."

"I just stopped to think for a moment."

"You think way too much."

"So I've been told." She replied, hoping that the conversion had come to a close so that he would just go away. He didn't say anything for a moment, so she thought that maybe, for once in matters concerning Malfoy, luck was on her side. But, she was wrong.

"You know, that really is a beautiful necklace. I see that you continued to wear it even though I told you not to."

"Like I'd ever do anything you told me to do."

Draco chuckled softly. "Someone must really care about you to give you it."

"I thought you said that it could be filled with dark magic."

"If I had really thought that, I would have made sure that you didn't wear that. Or Blaise certainly would've taken it from you when he saw it. No, that necklace isn't used for dark magic."

"Well enlighten me and tell me what it _is_ used for." She said irritably, she hated him drawing this conversation out; she just wanted him to get on with it and leave.

Hermione felt him move to stand in front of her, very closely she noted, and gently pick up the stone.

"The stone itself isn't of any importance, but the design and magic make it special. There are a lot of charms in the stone, too many to list to you even if I did want to. The platinum weaving in the center holds all of the charms together and forms a protection for the person wearing it. If anyone has the intention of causing you harm, it will protect you, sort of like creating a force field."

Hermione was silent just taking it all in. "But, if that were the case, couldn't Death Eaters wear it and be protected from us?"

"No… This type of necklace can only be made by a person of a good heart for a person with a pure heart. Only a truly good person could ever wear it."

"So the person who sent me this had to have a good heart to have made it?"

"No, the jeweler had to have had a good heart, the person who sent only needed good intentions."

"Oh," Hermione said softly. "You seem to know a lot about this subject."

"I know a lot of things you couldn't even imagine." Hermione would've been irritated by this last comment if she hadn't been do distracted by his close proximity.

Malfoy gently let go of the necklace and began to trace the outline of the necklace with his finger, softly brushing against her skin. Hermione shivered slightly at the sudden contact.

"Beautiful…simply beautiful." He said softly and with so much emotion that she had to finally open and look at him. Hermione's heart began to race when she saw that he was not looking at the necklace, but at her.

"Quiero besarle en este momento." He whispered. Hermione's eyes widened and she nodded slightly. After her confirmation he leaned in and captured her mouth with his. She closed her eyes at the feel of his lips.

The kiss was slow and soft, but she sensed that he was a bit hesitant. As to encourage him, she slipped her tongue into his mouth. He stepped closer to her and put his hands on her hips. She was surprised, not by the action, but by the fact that he was trembling. It was then that she totally lost all sense of time and where she was. All that mattered was the feel of the kiss, his soft lips his tongue gently massage hers, his hands on her hips, his thumbs softly rubbing just above the waistline of her pants. And his hair… his wonderful hair that she was currently running her hands through, it was simply unbelievable.

Hermione didn't care that it was Malfoy that she was kissing; all that mattered was that it felt right, more right than she had felt with a guy for a long time. Later she would think about the consequences, the possibility that this was one of his jokes, or the fact that maybe he had gone temporarily inside. Right now she just felt like she could kiss him forever.

Just then she heard the faint sound of footsteps coming closer. Malfoy pulled away from her and took a few steps back. They both just stood there staring at each other. Malfoy stood there with his lips pink and swollen and his hair all rumpled, Hermione had never seen him look so sexy.

"Oh there you guys are. Were you two arguing again?" a voice came a few feet away.

Hermione turned her head towards the source and saw Ginny standing there with a suspicious look on her face.

"Why would you think we were arguing?" Hermione asked nervously running her hand through the hair of her pony tail. She prayed that Ginny had no idea what had happened a few moments before.

"Well you're all flushed and Draco looked a bit…disheveled." Ginny said looking back and forth between the two. Hermione looked over at Draco who was still looking at her. Didn't look as if he was going to be of any help.

"We weren't arguing, we were just…" Hermione tried to think of something that sounded plausible.

"Talking, we were talking." Draco said suddenly.

Ginny narrowed her eyes. "Talking, huh? Well when you two are done 'talking' you come back to the common room and eat with us." She gave the two one more suspicious glance before rounding the corner.

Hermione sighed and rubbed her hands over her eyes. Now that the two of them were now faced with reality she just knew he was going to use this whole incident against her. She was not looking forward to it.

"You should go back to the common room and go eat dinner." Malfoy said wearily. He sounded extremely tired.

His tone surprised her. "You're not going to come with me?"

"No… I have something I need to do. I'll be back later." He said and left her without awaiting a response.

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Italian translations:

Non sa che lei l'abbia inviato- she does not know you sent it

è lí qualcuno venendo- is there someone coming

Sì, la principesse di Gryffindor e Slytherin sono dietro lei.-yes the Gryffindor and Slytherin princesses are behind you

Spanish translations:

¿Así que usted habla español, usted se siente especial?- so you speak Spanish, do you feel special?

Quiero besarle en este momento.- I want to kiss you right now

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I'm going to take a lil time to say thank you to all the people who have reviewed my story on AFF and FF. Since you guys are giving me such positive feedback, I just might write another story after I finish this one. I have some responses for the people who took the time to write long reviews recently"

Bob: aww, you don't like r&b? It's my absolute favorite genre of music, so because of that I can't say that I won't but anymore songs in my story. But I will say that if I do (just because I have 2 songs in mind) it will be only a couple of lines and there most likely wont be more than one in chapter, after all I despise song fics. But tell me this, what exactly is death metal and screamo?

Shannon: thanks for the wonderful comments. I think bilingual guys are hot especially when they whisper sweet nothings in your ear... lol. Is long hair common for menin the wizarding world? Well, we can say that since Hermione wasn't raised in the wizarding world she never had the chance to get used to it. I suppose that's the lazy answer but I'm a bit tired…

Please read and review! Comments and suggestions are great appreciated.


	9. a new friendship

Disclaimer: If Harry Potter was mine, I wouldn't have to worry about getting a job.

A/N: I know I took a long time with this but I've been really lazy again. Hope you can forgive me. I don't know if I really like this chapter, I might edit it soon and repost it, but I really wanted to post something soon. Thank you to the wonderful person to emailed me their review. They totally motivated me to type the next chapter. Enjoy

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Draco was lying on the couch in the common room staring into the crackling fireplace. It was four in the morning and he hadn't gotten a minute of sleep. After a few hours of attempt he gave up and went down to the common room, hoping that after an hour of reading his history text he would begin to feel drowsy. But that didn't happen. All he could do was think about what had happened with Granger earlier.

He had no idea what had come over him in that hallway, it was as if he was in a trance and he couldn't control his emotions. For some reason, at that moment, just talking to her and being so close to her made him feel differently about her. Draco had admitted to himself a long time ago that he didn't hate her, and he could even admit now that he didn't even really dislike her, but that definitely did not account for how he felt with her in the hallway. He didn't get this sudden pang of undying love for her, but he had become consumed with an overwhelming desire to kiss her. He was just so confused.

Draco knew he had no romantic feelings for Granger. The only reason he had written those things in that letter was so that it would be more believable. That, and so she would never guess that he was the one that had sent the necklace. But even though this was true, he was still happy that she had worn the necklace. It was the only way he could think of that he could think of to keep her safe within the castle if he wasn't around. It wouldn't help with everything, only if the person who attacked her wasn't wanted to inflict serious harm upon her.

Draco sighed and ran his hand through his now curly hair (straightening charms only lasted for so long). He still wasn't entirely sure why he felt so protective over Granger, but he supposed he would do the same thing for Pansy, Millie, and Ginny if he ever needed to, but he was sure that wouldn't happen. Maybe deep down he cared about her as much as he cared about the other girls.

'Yeah, deep, _deep_ down' he thought, greatly frustrated.

And then there was that kiss. What the hell was up with that? She wasn't the best kisser he had come across, but he knew it was leave a lasting impression on him, and that was saying some; he had kissed a lot of girls. He didn't know why though. Ok, he did know why, it was the first time he had ever been nervous while kissing a girl. He shrugged it off thinking that he was just nervous that she was going to hex him at some point. But besides that, it was a very nice kiss, too sweet for two people who are not supposed to like each other. And since they hadn't let it run its natural course, and hadn't spoken about it, he was more curious than ever about it. He hadn't been as surprised as he should've been that she had responded to him and it bothered him. Actually, everything that had happened that day with Granger had bothered him, which is why he had left her once Ginny had left.

Draco had walked around the castle for a while trying to clear his mind. He had even stopped by Professor Snape's classroom.

flashback

"What a surprise to see you down here Draco, especially on a weekend. What can I do for you?" Professor Snape said he looked up from the exams he was grading as Draco sat on a table near the professors desk.

"I was just wondering if there were anymore projects that you would like me to help you on." Draco replied cringing inwardly. This reason sounded fake even to him.

"Oh? I was under the impression that you didn't particularly enjoy doing extra work, even for me." Professor Snape replied, still grading the exams.

Draco sighed. His mentor would always see through him. "I just need something to keep myself busy for a while."

Professor Snape stopped grading the exam he was currently on and put down his quill. "Would this need of a distraction have to do with a certain Miss Granger?"

Draco narrowed his eyes; nothing Snape did these days surprised his. "I though you had stopped reading my thoughts after the war Severus."

Professor Snape laughed. "I must have hit a nerve if you're calling me Severus, Draco. I don't need to use legilimens to know what you are thinking. All I need to do is observe you in class. You seem to be distracted by her a lot lately."

Draco didn't know what to say. He had no idea that his distraction had been so apparent. "I assume there is no point in trying to deny it, you know me too well. Something just happened between us." Draco started.

Professor Snape held up his hand. "Just talk to her, Draco. That is all the advice I can give you." He picked up his quill and turned back to the exam he had been grading.

Draco stood up from the table and walked towards the door of the classroom. He should've known Snape would not be able, or willing, to help him. Just as he reached the door, the professor spoke once more.

"Miss Granger is a beautiful and extremely powerful witch, Draco. It would serve you well to be on friendlier terms with her."

end flashback

Draco had the feeling that the professor had some sort of underlying meaning in that last comment. Everyone who had fought in the war knew how powerful Granger was. It had come as somewhat of a shock when he had first seen what she was capable of. Who knew someone so small could possess such a powerful amount of magic. But what did that have to do with how good looking she was? Draco knew she was beautiful, he had let himself admit it, but he didn't see how it really had to do with anything. Snape was right about one thing, he did have to talk to her, but he wasn't too keen on the idea.

Draco lay there for a long time trying to make sense of everything. He knew it would be impossible to try and distract his thoughts by reading coursework, so he didn't even bother turning to the book on the coffee table next to him. Finally, after too much time of not making and progress, he attempted to clear his mind. A few minutes into his breathing exercises he heard footsteps behind him.

"Can't fall back to sleep either?" came a soft voice.

"Never fell asleep to begin with." He replied.

"Oh"

He heard her sit down on the couch to the right of him, but he didn't dare look at her. He just didn't know what to say. They sat without speaking for a moment.

"Christmas holiday begins at the end of the week." Granger said breaking the silence.

"I know." Draco answered wondering where the conversation was going.

"I think we should have a party for all the seventh years staying. We can probably invite a select group of sixth years so Ginny doesn't feel weird."

"Sounds like a good idea."

"We should probably take everyone's wand at the door since there will most likely be drinking and give the invited guests the password to our dorm. We can change it afterwards."

"I like our password; I don't want to change it."

"Sometimes change is good."

Draco looked over at her then, noticing that she was staring at the rug while she was playing with the hem of her t-shirt. She looked as uncomfortable as he felt. At that moment Draco just wanted to go over to her, hug her, and tell her everything would be alright.

'What the hell is wrong with me' he thought before he spoke.

"Granger, we should forget about what happened today. We… made a mistake."

"Right." She simply said. Draco thought she looked a little relieved.

"I mean, things don't have to change and we don't have to mention this again after tonight."

"It'll be like it never happened."

"Exactly."

"I'm going to go back to bed, I have a feeling I'll be able to sleep now. Goodnight, Malfoy." She stood up and walked back to her bedroom. He felt a small twinge of regret as he watched were walk away.

"La bonne nuit, belle _(good night, beautiful)"_ he said softly when he heard her door close. He lay back down feeling a little, but not totally, better.

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Hermione had a miserable week. She was tense every time Malfoy was near her, which occurred much more than she realized. With their Head duties, meetings and planning for the party, he was everywhere. They were careful not to speak to each other unless it was necessary, but even the silence irritated.

She knew she had no reason to be angry, after all they had both agreed that they should forget about the kiss. But she was a little annoyed that he had suggested it first. She has thought it was amazing, not the most passionate kiss, but she one of the best she had ever had.

'Maybe it's amazing because it is amazing that Malfoy kissed me in the first place' she had thought sometime during the week.

And what was up with that. He had been the one to kiss her and now she was supposed to forget about it without some kind of explanation?

"Ugh" Hermione groaned. "I am such a bloody girl!"

"What?" asked Ginny with an amused smile. Hermione had been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she had forgotten that she was sitting in her common room with her friends. They had just finished getting everything together for the party that evening and they were just sitting around until it was time for them to get ready.

"Nothing, I was just thinking about something."

"Ok… we need to do something. As much as I love you all I can't just stare at your faces for the next hour."

"Why don't we play a game?" Harry suggested.

"Yeah! What about truth or dare?" Pansy asked excitedly.

"What are we, ten years old Pansy?" Malfoy asked in his usual drawl.

"You probably wouldn't want to answer what I have to ask you, you bastard." Hermione said under her breath.

"If you have something to say to me Granger, why don't you say it loud enough so I can hear it?" Malfoy said in a cold voice.

Hermione smirked. "I said that you probably wouldn't want to answer the question I have to ask. And I think I called you a bastard somewhere in there." The common room went silent.

Malfoy laughed. "I hope you're not suggesting that I might be _afraid_ to play a little question coming from you. Why don't you just ask it?"

"Oh it's nothing." She waved her hand dismissively. "I was just wondering if you were gay." Hermione heard a gasp somewhere in the background.

"What?" Draco said in a low, angry voice.

"Well, it's a fair question. You haven't brought a girl here for months so I figured you finally realized that you didn't like them."

Draco walked towards her. "Oh that's a new one. So because I don't like you I must be gay. Well you know what? Yeah, if it came down to being with a guy or with you, I'd choose him! Probably would be more feminine than you could ever be."

"You are such an arrogant piece of shit!"

"Oh because, I'd rather be gay than be with you? Get used to it because it will happen a lot."

Hermione pushed him hard in his chest and stormed up to her bedroom. She heard him yell "Keep her away from me!" before she slammed her door. She threw herself onto her bed and just stared at the ceiling, not believing what just happen. It was like she had just snapped. Of course, she didn't believe the things she said, but she figured that he was probably being honest with her.

There was a knock on her door. "Hermione? It's Ginny, can I come in?"

"Yeah it's open" she said loudly.

Ginny walked into the room, closed the door, and sat next to her on the bed. "What just happened out there?" she asked.

Hermione sighed. "I don't know Ginny I just snapped."

"I'll say, can I ask you why?"

"I don't know Ginny."

Ginny began to trace the pattern on the bedspread. "I know something weird happened with you two last week. I could tell when I saw you. And you two have been weird all week. Don't worry I didn't tell anyone."

Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"Ok, I told Blaise, but he already figured something was going on seeing how you were weird when you got back to the common room."

"I don't want to talk about that day."

"That's fine; I really just wanted to talk about what happened just now. That was really awful what you said to him down there."

Hermione sat up. "Oh so now you're on his side? He said some horrible stuff to me too."

"That's true, but you started it. You guys need to lay off of each other, you know, try and be friends."

"You know that's impossible."

"I don't see why. You guys are both great people. You know what he did after you left?"

"What?" Hermione asked, curiously.

"Well he started yelling a whole lot of stuff; honestly most of it didn't even make sense. But after he stopped, he gave Blaise his wand and told him to keep it until he calmed down. Then he left."

"He gave Blaise his wand? Malfoy is too neurotic to go anywhere without it."

"It seems wanted to make sure he didn't hex anyone, I'm guessing most likely you. You're being too hard on him. Maybe if you become friends with him you'll realize he cares more about you than you think."

"Are you trying to tell me something Ginny?"

"Nope, just saying that he really is a sweetheart, when you're not around that is. Well I'm going to go get ready for the party."

"Wouldn't it be easier to get ready here?"

"Maybe, but you know how I like to get the other girls in my room. They all want to go to the Elite Eight's Extravagant Extravaganza!"

Hermione started to laugh. "The what?"

Ginny shrugged. "That's what they are calling it. You know everyone wants to be around us. I'll see you later."

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Draco thought that they had pulled off a great party. Every seventh year student that had stayed over the holidays as well as the few sixth years they had invited had attended. And it looked as if everyone was having a great time.

Draco had invited a cute blonde sixth year Slytherin named Nicole to the party. She was a transfer student and had noticed her a few times in the hallways and while in the Great Hall. She wasn't the most interesting girl in the world, but it's not as if he was looking for a relationship.

"Thank you for inviting me to your party, Draco." Nicole said as he handed her a cup of rum punch.

"You're welcome, thought I can't take all the credit for this. My friends and I put this all together."

"Ah, the notorious Elite Eight." Nicole smiled. "Can you show me who everyone is?"

Draco was surprised. "Are you serious? I thought everyone knew who we were."

"Yeah, well you were the only one who interested me." She definitely knew how to get onto Draco's good side.

Draco smiled. "Ok, over by the steps are Blaise and Ginny, the red haired guy and black haired girl dancing are Ron and Millie, and the couple on the couch looking like they are about to eat each other's face are Harry and Pansy."

"The great Harry Potter, I've seen him around. Not as good looking as you though." She said with a flirty smile.

"Well not everyone can be as handsome as me." He replied with a wink.

Nicole laughed. "You only showed me six people."

"That's because I try to forget that the other one exists." Draco looked around until he spotted her by the doors that led to the balcony. Once again he had to admit that she looked beautiful. Tonight she was wearing a red tube top with a border. Written on it was 'Gryffindor Good Girl' in gold script. She also had on a black mini skirt. The whole look was accentuated with gold jewelry, well except for the necklace he had given her. She wore her hair natural, falling in curls a couple of inches past her shoulders.

"The girl in the red, black and gold is Hermione."

Nicole looked at her thoughtfully. "So she's the greatest witch of our time? Doesn't look like much to me. Is it true she's a mu—muggle-born?"

"Yeah."

"Even so, she looks to be popular with the guys." Draco looked back over at her and saw that she was indeed talking to Dean and Seamus. He was pretty sure that the conversation was one-sided; the two boys looked to be just staring at her. Maybe that was why she seemed to be taking a drink after every sentence.

"I guess, let's go dance."

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Draco was beginning to get annoyed. Nicole had been talking for about twenty minutes about a topic that he was not remotely interested in. Also, even though she was holding back, he could tell that she was just as prejudice as he used to be. He had been trying to think of a polite way to end the conversation but he hadn't thought of anything yet.

"Yo Draco! Come over here for a second!" Draco smiled. Thank goodness for Blaise and his good timing.

"Nicole, I'll be back in a little while. Why don't you go over and talk to Pansy and Granger for a while." He said and walked over to Blaise without waiting for an answer.

"Blaise, thank you for getting me away from that girl. I think she is the most shallow girl I have ever met, and that is saying a lot."

Blaise laughed. "Happy to be of help. Now I called you over to get one of my famous drinks." He said handing him a cup of a dark liquid.

"Do I even want to know what's in it?"

Blaise smiled as Draco took a sip. "Probably not."

"WHAT!" Came a voice from the other side of the room.

"Who the hell is that?" Draco said trying to determine where the sound was coming from.

"Uh oh, looks like Mya had more than a few drinks." Blaise said pointing over Draco's shoulder.

Draco turned around to see Granger looking furiously at Nicole.

"WHAT BITCH? SAY THAT AGAIN BITCH! SAY IT AGAIN!" Granger yelled.

Draco could see Pansy trying to calm her down as he and Blaise walked closer.

"You heard what I said the first time; I'm not going to repeat it." Nicole smirked.

Blaise turned to Draco. "We should get Mya before she does something she'll regret?"

"Granger won't do much to her, she doesn't have her wand."

"You and I both know she doesn't need a wand to do damage."

Draco looked at him as he thought about what he did. He reacted quickly grabbing Granger around the waist just as she was about to lunge at Nicole. He held her tightly against him as she struggled to get away from him. After a minute she calmed down.

"Let me go. I won't do anything to her." She said. He released her and she walked out onto the balcony and closed the door. Draco turned back to Pansy and Nicole.

"Draco, you need to take your bitch out of here." Pansy said.

"What? She started it!" Nicole said.

"Is that true, Pansy?" asked Draco.

"I don't know, I stopped listening to her after a while, she's annoying." Pansy replied.

"Ok, let's go Nicole." Draco said taking her arm.

Nicole looked at Pansy. "Come on, Pansy. You know I didn't do anything."

"Nancy, that might be so but you pissed Hermione off, so you have to go." Pansy said in a bored tone.

"My name is Nicole!"

"No one cares, just kick her out Draco."

Draco pulled her towards the door. "Draco, you don't even like her. I don't see why I can't stay." Nicole said pleading.

Draco pushed her out the door and smirked. "You see, _Nancy_, it doesn't matter. You get on one of our bad side's; you get on all of our bad sides. I guess that's what makes us notorious. Oh, you'll get your wand whenever Pansy feels like giving it back to you." Draco closed the door.

Draco walked back through the crowd to pick up his drink and another before he went over to the balcony. The party had resumed as if nothing had happened. That is how you know a party is good.

Draco opened the door to balcony and closed the door behind him. Granger was standing by the railing looking out towards the lake.

"I brought you a drink."

"Thanks." She said taking the cup and taking a sip.

"You're pretty feisty after having a few drinks, cursing and everything."

"Yeah well she pissed me off."

"What was she saying that got you so angry?"

"Nothing worth repeating."

"I don't doubt you. I don't think anything she's ever said has been worth repeating."

Granger laughed. "Sorry I had your girlfriend thrown out."

"She's not my girlfriend and I was looking for a way to get rid of her."

They both stood in a comfortable silence for a while, just looking out to the lake.

"You know I didn't mean what I said earlier, right?" she said after five minutes.

"Yeah, I didn't mean what I said either. Let's just forget about it, no apologies."

"Do you think we could try being friends?" she asked softly.

"I thought we talked about this already."

"I mean real friends, without all this anger towards each other."

"I guess I can do that." He held out hand. "Friends?

She took his hand and shook it. "Friends."

"Just a few things you should know though. I will jump into this friendship immediately; I do not do the awkward transition bull. I am very touchy with my female friends, almost as much as with my girlfriends. I am an extremely jealous friend so I expect there to be things between us and only us. With that said, I will continue to annoy and bother you, and I will keep calling you Granger most of the time. But don't worry; things will be different between us. Anything you want to tell me?"

Granger blinked. "Well, that was quite a speech. No I don't have anything to say. I'm still shocked that you agreed so easily."

"Yeah, well it just makes life easier. But now that we are friends, I need to show me your tattoo."

Granger laughed. "That was unexpected. You'll have to be more specific, which one do you want to see."

"I already know what the phoenix looks like, we all have them."

"Well that leaves two others."

"You have three tattoos?" Draco was shocked. Guess she isn't a total good girl, regardless of what her shirt currently said. "Well I'm talking about the one on your hip."

"Oh, Lumos." She said waving her hand by the candles on the balcony to give them some light. She pulled the band on her skirt down so that her tattoo was visible and Draco kneeled in front of her in order to get a better look.

Draco snickered. "You got a tattoo of a baby panther playing with a ball of yarn?"

"No, I got a tattoo of a baby panther." She paused to take a drink. "I have no idea where the yarn comes from, it only appears when I'm happy."

"What do you mean?" Draco said, still watching the cub play happily with the ball of yarn.

"The tattoo changes according to my mood, when I'm happy the yarn appears and he plays with it."

"Oh I see." Draco lifted his hand and began to softly stroke the tattoo watching as the yarn disappeared and the cub rolled over to that his belly could be rubbed.

"What are you doing down there?"

"I just wanted to see how it would react if I pet it. Since it rolled over, I would guess that you like it a lot."

Granger snorted. "Oh please. It is a cat after all."

"Hmm…"Draco said as he stood back up, this time much closer to her. He looped his fingers into her belt loops and pulled her against him.

"What are you doing Malfoy?" she said nervously.

"Well, I think the only issue standing preventing us from being friends is that kiss from last week, we weren't able to finish it. I know we agreed to not speak about it, but look at all the tension it caused between us. I have a theory that if we were to finish it, it will leave our thoughts. Want to try?" he said softly.

"Ok"

Draco smiled. "Nox" he whispered putting out the light before pulling her into a kiss.

The kiss was the same as the last one, soft and sweet. The only difference was that Draco was no longer nervous. He could taste the alcohol on her lips and thought he had never tasted anything so sweet. He caressed her tongue with his and smiled against her lips when he heard her sigh. He then gave her a quick peck and whispered "Are we ok now?" as he pulled away.

"Yeah, I think so." She softly replied.

Draco heard a throat clear by the door. He saw Granger's shift to his left and he turned to the door where Blaise and Ginny were standing.

"Are you two finished _talking_?" Ginny said. "What the hell is going on?"

"Malfoy and I decided to try being friends." Granger replied weakly.

Blaise smirked. "And being friends requires that kind of kissing?"

"Well you know I'm an affectionate person to my friends." Draco said.

"You never kissed me like that." Ginny grumbled.

Draco raised his eyebrow. "Do you want me to?"

"Hey, don't even think about coming near my girl!" Blaise said putting an arm around Ginny's waist.

Draco laughed. "Look it wasn't a big deal. We just need to settle something."

"And did you?" asked Ginny.

Draco looked at Granger who gave him a smile. "Yeah we did."

Blaise and Ginny gave each other a look. "Well come inside so we can start playing some games." Blaise said, he and Ginny walking back through the doors.

"Come on." Draco said to Granger. He put his arm around her and they followed.

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Thank you for all of the reviews from both AFF and FF.

Bob: I think you are my fave reviewer. thanks for the clarification. I'll try to listen to some of the band you mentioned. Don't know if I'll like it, but it never hurts to try new things.

i: in my world Hermione and Draco have a long way to go before they can become romantically involved, see how long it took for them to even become friends. I'll try to keep the story realistic.

Death Angel: thanks for the kind words, I hope that you continue to like the story

Anon: I reread the chapter after I read your comment. I didn't realize how annoying it was to have to scroll down to check the translation. Thanks for the suggestion

Stephanie: I feel the same way, though Spanish is numero uno for me!

Shannon: He does look good I must admit. Glad you liked the chapter.

DizzyDawn007: thanks for the kind words

sesshomaru'shugamejacket: wow, that is the longest pen name ever, but I like it. Thanks!

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Please review!


	10. a sweet night

Disclaimer: Same as in the other chapters, HP does not belong to me.

A/N: sorry for the long delay, I was having trouble figuring out where I wanted this story. Should it be long and drawn out or should it just get to the point. Well I hope you guys won't be disappointed. Enjoy!

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Draco and Hermione followed the couple back into the common room and sat in the remaining open love seat. As weird as it sounds, Hermione could already feel the change in her relationship with Draco, it was that immediate. She just hoped that it would last.

"Hey," Draco said to her. "Who's that guy in the gray sweater by the drinks?"

Hermione looked over to see he was talking about and saw a handsome Hispanic guy pouring himself some punch. "I don't know, I think he is a 7th year Ravenclaw. Why?"

"Because he keeps looking over at you."

"Really? He's gorgeous."

Draco rolled his eyes at her. "Why don't you go over there and talk to him so he can stop looking over here. It's irritating."

"Are you actually telling me that a guy might be interesting in me?" Hermione said smiling.

Draco smirked. "Yeah, after all, someone like you has to take what she can get." Even though it was what she was used to hearing from him, it was said without any disdainful undertones.

"You're such a jerk." she replied in a teasing manner and she stood up to go walk over to the guy.

"Hi" Hermione said smiling when she reached him. "My friend over there told me that you were checking me out, so I thought I'd introduce myself. I'm Hermione."

The boy smiled. "How could I not know our beautiful Head girl? I'm Julian."

"Sexy name for a sexy guy." She said in a flirty manner.

Julian laughed. "I think I'm going to have to thank your friend for sending you over here."

"Who, Malfoy? Don't do that, he might get a bigger head than he already has"

"So I take it that you two aren't… involved?"

"No way. He prefers supermodels to us normal girls."

"I would never describe you as just a 'normal' girl, but I am happy to know that I don't have to compete with him to get your attention."

"Believe me, you'll never have to worry about that that."

The two spoke for a while longer until Julian said he had to get going. He asked if he could take her out Sunday evening and she happily agreed. After they said their goodbyes, Hermione walked back over and sat down in the now totally vacated love seat.

"Hey," she said to Harry and Pansy who were, surprisingly the only couple not making out on the couches. "Where did Malfoy go?"

"You actually care where he went?" Harry asked the disbelief apparent on his face.

"Yeah, well, we kind of came to an agreement that everything would be better if he tried to be friends."

"Finally! I hope it lasts because I'm tired of you two fighting all the bloody time."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. So where did he go?"

"Oh," Pansy said, joining the conversation. "He went off somewhere with Daphne Greenleaf. She was all over him once you left. They went out the common room door about twenty minutes ago."

"Oh."

"Yeah, he's probably getting some well-deserved action right now." Harry said laughing.

"You are disgusting, Harry." Hermion said also laughing. His laughter was just too contagious, but deep down she felt a little pang of unhappiness.

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A couple of hours later Hermione found herself sitting in front of the fireplace with Blaise, the only one of her friends not sleeping. Well, she didn't know if Draco was sleeping, he hadn't returned to the dorm yet. The two of them sat talking quietly, being careful not to wake Ron, Millicent, Pansy and Harry who were currently passed out on the sofa's behind them.

"You are hilarious when you are drunk and angry. I mean, I can't believe you were going to attack that girl!" Blaise was saying chuckling softly.

"Yeah, well she should've kept her idiotic comments to her herself. Honestly, telling me that 'mudbloods aren't fit to be in the presence of someone as great and pure as Draco Malfoy'" she said in a high-pitched whiney voice. Who the hell did she think she was talk to? Especially with Pansy there."

"Is that what she said to you? Well, unfortunately, the war didn't change everyone's opinions about muggles. But, on a happier note, it was a good thing Draco was there to prevent you from killing her."

"I don't know if it was a good thing." Hermione grumbled.

"And speaking of Draco…"

"Oh God." Hermione interrupted. "I knew it was too good to be true that you hadn't mentioned it."

Blaise laughed. "I'm sorry, but it's my job to tease you endlessly about embarrassing things. Think of me as an honorary annoying older brother."

"I already have Ron for that." Hermione said smiling.

"I think we _all_ have Ron for that purpose. Now stop trying to distract me."

Hermione sighed. "I had to give it a shot."

"I know you guys said what happened on the balcony was nothing, but it didn't look like nothing."

"So you think the two of us are trying to hide some burning from one another or we are having this secret relationship?" she asked sarcastically.

"That's not what I meant. I'm just saying…well, it wasn't _strange_ to me that you were kissing each other. I mean, doesn't that even make sense? With all the arguing you do, and all the time you've spent trying to hurt each other, it just shouldn't seem normal for you two to be together."

"I really don't know what to say to that, Blaise."

"Because you know I'm right."

"Blaise…" Hermione was become exasperated with the conversation.

"Just answer one thing for me and then I'll drop it."

"Ok, what is it."

"After the war you became friends with Pansy, Millie, and I even though we said just as many horrible things to you as Draco before. So how come you could forgive us so easily but it too you all this time to forgive him?"

Hermione was silent for a moment. "I guess it was because he seemed even nastier to me afterwards. Well, not nastier, but I guess in comparison to how he was with Ron and Harry, it just seemed that he hated me even more. I'm not going to be nice to someone who treats me badly."

Blaise looked like he was going to respond when the common room door opened and Draco walked in to the room. Hermione saw him look at the couples sleeping on the couch and smirk before he noticed them and walked over to where they were sitting.

"Hey, Blaise." he said as he sat on the opposite side of Hermione and put an arm around her shoulders. "Isn't it way past your bedtime, Granger?"

"Please don't touch me." Hermione said as she shrugged his arm off her shoulders.

Draco looked shocked. "Are you serious? I thought things were ok with us now or were you too drunk to know what you were doing?"

"I remember just fine." Hermione snapped. "You reek of sweat and perfume and I don't want you touching me."

Draco stared at her for a moment with a strange look on his face, as if he was studying her. The he said, "I'll go take a shower then." He got up without another word and went up to his bedroom.

"Think you over-reacted a bit?" Blaise asked, looking amused like he usually did when Draco and Hermione got into an argument.

"Whatever, Blaise."

Blaise stood up. "Well I'm going to go up, make sure Ginny's alright and go to sleep."

"Ok, goodnight."

"You know, we all went through a rough time during the war, but at least for us it's over, we can put all the horrible things we did behind us. Draco, unfortunately, doesn't have that luxury, it follows him everyday. There's a reason for everything he does. Goodnight, Mya.

'Leave it to Blaise to say something cryptic and then walk away' she thought as he went up the common room stairs.

Hermione lay back onto the rug with her arms behind her head, just staring of into space. She never even noticed when Draco came back into the common room and sat next to her.

"You look like you have a lot on your mind." he said, breaking the silence.

Hermione turned her head to look at him. "Not really, I kind of zoned out for a minute."

"I didn't have sex with her you know."

Hermione sighed. "It really isn't any of my business who you sleep with, Malfoy. I'm sorry I snapped at you. I'm just tired."

"And drunk?"

"No, I'm not drunk anymore."

"Says the drunk girl." Draco said laughing.

"Oh, be quiet." she said and playfully hit his arm.

"So does this mean I can touch you now, since I took a shower and everything?" he said with a smile.

Hermione suddenly felt that little pang of unhappiness fade away. "I guess that could be ok."

Draco inched closer to her and loosely wrapped his arms around her. "Do I smell better now?"

Hermione gave an audible sniff and rested her head on his chest. She couldn't believe how comfortable she felt with him already. "Mmm, you smell like you hiked up a snow covered mountain with a goat by your side, in other words you smell good."

"You are one strange girl."

"I know."

"Glad you are ok with it. Can I play with your tattoo?"

Hermione turned to face him. "What is your obsession with my tattoo?"

"J'aime juste toucher et voir plus de vous. (I just like touching and seeing more of you)" he said smirking when he saw her blush.

"You really have to stop doing that now that we are friends." She said rolling her eyes. Even though her body was betraying her at the moment didn't mean that she couldn't pretend that everything was normal.

"I don't see why, you obviously like it. Don't worry; I'm only saying good things." Draco said distractedly as he gently pulled down the waist of her skirt to touch the tattoo.

Hermione shivered. She hated that he could do that to her and was now wondering how she was going to be able to handle him touching her all of the time. "If it's only good stuff, why can't you just say it in English?" she asked hoping to get her mind off of him touching her.

"Because it is stuff that I want to say to you but don't want you to know yet." He simply answered. "Hey, the little panther is sleeping. Are you tired?"

"I'm beyond tired, I am exhausted." she said slowly closing her eyes, just focusing on his fingers moving along her hip.

"Why aren't you in bed right now then?"

"Because Ginny drank way too much and is currently passed out in my bed. Blaise is staying up there with her." She replied with a yawn.

"Oh, I see." He moved his hand from her waist and stood up. "Well, time to go to bed." he said holding his hand out to her to help her up.

Hermione took his hand and looked at him strangely. "What are you doing?"

Draco tolled his eyes like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Well you obviously aren't going to be able to sleep on the love seat so you're going to sleep with me in my room. And before you say anything, my bed is huge so we don't even have to touch each other. Plus I promise to be good." Draco tried to make himself look as innocent as possible, which was easy to do because his now curly hair made him look a lot younger and innocent than he really was.

Hermione wanted to refuse his offer, because she knew she would embarrass herself in someway like she usually did when she was in close proximity of him. But thinking about her choices, staying with Draco was awfully appealing.

"Ok" she said.

Draco smiled brightly, that sexy smile that never failed to put butterflies in her stomach. "Glad you see it my way, Granger." He put out the fire in the common room with a wave of his hand and led her up to his bedroom.

Once they entered his room, he dropped her hand and began to rummage through his drawers. After a short amount of time he held out an emerald t-shirt to her.

"You can sleep in this since you don't have your pajamas."

"Thanks" she said and walked into the bathroom to wash up and change. After she was finished she walked back into the room to see Draco already lying in bed. He looked at her immediately.

"Wow, are you not wearing a bra? This is just like this dream I keep having, so I'm guessing you are about to start stripping and pour fudge all over your body?"

Hermione gave him a disgusted look. "You are gross. Don't make me regret sleeping in here." she said climbing onto the bed and sliding under the cool covers. "Goodnight Malfoy"

"Night Granger"

Hermione lay there drowsily for a few minutes when a funny thought passed through her mind. She began to giggle.

"What so funny?" she heard Draco's muffled voice say.

"I was just thinking about how many girls would kill to be where I am right now, whereas I couldn't really care less." She said as she began to drift to sleep.

Just before she fell asleep she could've sworn she heard a soft voice say "Too bad you're not one of those girls."

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Hermione woke up early the next morning feeling warm and wonderful. Draco's bed smelled just like him and it was a pleasant scent to smell first thing in the morning. As she shifted she felt a warm hand under her shirt and against her stomach. She closed her eyes for a moment and enjoyed the feel of having him pressed up against her; she knew it would never happen again. Hermione really did hate being so physically attracted to Draco, but it just couldn't be helped.

Hermione sighed and began to get up. She didn't want to have an embarrassing encounter with Draco if he woke up and saw how they were sleeping. As she began to move she felt his arm tighten around her middle. She looked over at his face and saw him eyeing her sleepily.

"Where are you going?" he asked sleepily.

"I didn't want to wear out my welcome." She said embarrassed that she had woken him up.

Draco closed his eyes. "It's Saturday and it's too early for you to do anything. Go back to sleep. Je n'ai pas eu de cauchemar hier soir parce que vous étiez ici et je veux que vous soyez resté. (I didn't have nightmares last night because you were here and I want you to stay.) Don't go." He pulled her closer.

How could she refuse a request like that?

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Thanks for all the great responses on FF and AFF!

Brittany: I think it has warped my mind too!

Blacklustz: I am such a big cat lover. I think if I could have a wizarding tattoo I would pick that.

Anon: I aim to please

Stephanie: thanks, funny I just started getting back into the Real World

eve/roarke: tension makes the story better I think

Panther Eyes: patience is a virtue, my friend

Bob:… you are just too funny

Amber: thank you, just trying to make it a story that I would want to read

Runaway mental patient: I just love your name

Riality: Draco will see another tattoo that interests him next time

HPfanatic53072: sorry if all the thinking is confusing… I don't really know what to say

Ocardevoli: hope I continue to make you happy. In my little world Draco and Hermione belong together, but JK has other ideas : (

Lolagirl: glad to be part of your obsession, lol. I just don't see the two of them just hopping into bed, they are just too complex. Hope you keep enjoying


	11. the realization

Disclaimer: It wasn't mine for the last 10 chapters… nothing has changed

A/N: yes I know it has been a long time since the update, but I had to figure where this was going. There will probably be only one or two chapters after this one, I'm still trying to decide if there will be a sex scene in this one, maybe not. I've already started thinking about a plot for my next story, but it might be a while before I write it. Ok, so for the rest of the story we will pretend that HBP doesn't exist because, my story won't work otherwise. What did you all think of book 6? Ok this note is getting too long… On with the story. Hope you like!

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Hermione woke up for the second time that morning in Draco's bed. She smiled as she thought about her earlier encounter with Draco. It was as if he had just flicked a switch somewhere inside himself and had totally turned off any animosity he had towards her.

"Do you usually wake up smiling or is it 'post sleeping with Draco Malfoy glow?'" she heard a voice say from the opposite site of the room.

"And the arrogance returns." Hermione said slowly sitting up against the headboard to look where Draco was standing. He was standing in front of his closet wearing only a pair of black pants, rubbing a towel against his damp hair. It was the sexiest thing she had ever seen. Draco looked like he could be one of the models in one of those muggle magazines she liked to read.

'Oh God, I just want to jump him right now' she thought as he looked at him.

"It's not arrogance, belle (beautiful), it is what it is." he replied tossing his towel onto his desk chair before rummaging in his closet.

"Where are you going?" she asked as she watched him pull on a gray silk shirt.

"I told Daphne I would meet up with her for lunch and then hang out with her afterwards." he said as he walked over to his dresser to spray on his cologne.

"Oh." Hermione threw off the covers and walked towards the bathroom. "I'll wash your shirt and give it back later, ok?" When she didn't get an answer she looked over her shoulder at him.

"Malfoy!"

His eyes quickly met hers "Did you say something?" he asked blushing slightly

She turned around and put her hand on her hips. "Were you just staring at my butt?" she asked in mock anger. He looked so cute with his cheeks a tinge of pink. She had no idea that Draco even knew how to blush.

"Well if you didn't want me to look, you should've worn a longer shirt." he said, smirking.

"But you're the one that gave me this shirt!"

"And this is the thanks I get for being so generous?" Draco asked smoothly, avoiding the topic altogether.

Hermione just sighed and turned to walk back to the bathroom. She felt his eyes on her again and had an idea. She pulled off the shirt in one swift motion and put her arm over her chest to cover herself. Hermione heard him gasp as she turned slightly to throw the shirt towards him and quickly closed the door laughing before he could say something. Hey, if he wanted a better look at her lace, boycut undies, she would give him a better look.

After Hermione took a long shower, she wrapped a fluffy towel around her self and walked to her room. As she walked towards her closet in order to choose her clothes for the day, she noticed the emerald shirt on the bed with a piece of parchment on top.

_Keep it. Looks better on you, belle._

Hermione read the parchment and smiled. She really was going to like their new relationship.

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That evening Hermione was sitting in her common room painting her fingernails and listening to music on her charmed player that she had brought from her room. She had just finished painting her toes in Christmas colors and was contemplating whether or not doing the same pattern on her fingers would be too much.

'Whatever.' she thought, and finished her fingers.

Hermione put her feet up on the coffee table and leaned back against the couch, closing her eyes, waiting for her nails to dry. She hadn't seen Draco all day and for some reason it made her a bit sad. In all honesty she wished that he had spent the day with her instead of that Slytherin girl.

'Oh no, I'm jealous!' she thought and groaned to herself. There had been only two excuses in order to not allow herself to like him: his hair and his attitude. And now that both of these had changed she didn't know how she was going to fight her attraction to him. Draco was now the perfect package to her; intelligent, gorgeous, nice… She let her mind drift as she listened to the song currently playing.

_When I think about the possibility_

_Of you ending up really feeling me_

_I get all flushed and wonder why_

_I'm so infatuated with a guy…_

Hermione sighed. She would just have to ignore her attraction to him. She doubted it would be that hard, she figured it would just fade to friendship once she spent more time with him.

She heard the portrait to the common room open, but she kept her eyes closed. If Draco was with that girl she didn't need to see them sneaking into his room. Then they would do things on his bed… the bed she had slept in the night before.

'Eww, has he changed the sheets since he last had sex in that bed? Oh God, get a grip, Hermione!' she thought, mentally freaking out. She suddenly heard movement near her and felt someone sit next to her on the couch. Well that someone was obviously Draco, she could smell his wonderful cologne. She felt him more closer to her and her heart started beating rapidly.

"I know you aren't sleeping," he breathed in her ear. "But if you're going to pretend, two can play this game."

She felt his hands on her knees and slowly slide up her legs. Her breathing quickened but she still didn't open her eyes. His hands glided over the soft cotton of her shorts and stopped for a short moment just above the waistband. Draco's fingers lightly caressed the vast amount of skin exposed above her shorts and below her tank top, pausing to flick gently at her bellybutton ring. It was taking all of Hermione's self control in order for her not to move, but when she felt his hands under her shirt she realized that she needed to push him off before she did something embarrassing.

"What are you doing!" she yelled as she pushed him off of her. She really hoped that he wouldn't notice that she was blushing.

Draco smirked at her from his place at the opposite side of the couch. "I thought you would be used to me trying to annoy you."

"Yeah, but not like that." she grumbled as she finally regained her composure.

"Stop dressing like that in front of me and it won't happen again."

"You act like you haven't seen tons of girls dress in less around you."

Draco smiled. "Now that you mention it, I have seen my fair share of beautiful ladies wearing nothing more than a smile."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Anyways, how was your date?"

"My what?"

"Your date… with Daphne, the girl you spent the day with."

"Oh, that wasn't a date. We just hung out basically."

"Does hanging out usually involve snogging sessions?"

Draco studied his hands. "No… I didn't kiss her we just hung out and talked. As for last night… that was a mistake. I was… just trying to get my mind off of something."

Hermione found this answer to be quite odd, but she didn't say anything. "And did it work?"

"No it didn't." Draco looked up at her. "How did things go with that guy at the party?"

Hermione smiled. "He was really sweet actually and kept complimenting me. But I suspect that he just wants the opportunity to say that he dated me. Anyway, I have a date with him tomorrow." She noticed that he was giving her a weird look. "What's wrong?"

"You act like a guy wouldn't give you a compliment just because he honestly thought it to be true."

"Well its true isn't it? I mean, I don't have very good luck with guys. Just look at what happened with Viktor."

Draco sighed and ran his hand through his hair, making it look disheveled. "You need to realize that what happened with Krum wasn't your fault. No guy in their right mind would cheat on you with that body, even if you are a little annoying. But that can be fixed with a silencing charm."

Hermione laughed and punched his arm playfully; he had sufficiently cheered her up. "You are such an idiot."

Draco smiled. "That may be so, but you're not doubting yourself anymore. You know I've been wondering something for a while. Where exactly is you're other tattoo? I mean, I've seen a lot of you and I've never even seen a hint of it."

"Well where do you think it is, Malfoy?"

"I'm hoping it is somewhere naughty and you'll show me."

Hermione laughed once again. "Sorry to disappoint you, but it is in a very innocent place. I just put a distraction and concealing charm on it. But I don't know if I want to show you… you might laugh or something, everyone else did."

"Merlin, Granger, did you get a tattoo of a book?"

Hermione gave him a disgusted look. "No I didn't get a book tattooed on me. They all just assumed some stuff."

"Well just show me, I won't judge you."

Hermione looked at him skeptically.

Draco rolled his eyes. "I promise to keep an open mind."

"Ok."

Hermione turned her back to him and pulled off her baby tee. She then picked up her wand, pointed to her left shoulder blade and said, "aperio". She then braced herself for whatever Draco had to say.

"It's a dragon… It's beautiful." He said as she felt him trace the outline with his finger. She felt butterflies in her stomach.

"Thank you."

"What kind of assumption could they make from it."

"Think about it a little bit."

"Hmm… well it's silver and green; Slytherin colors. You know the dragon is my favorite magical creature." She felt him move away from her and she pulled back on her Chudley Cannons baby tee as she turned to face him.

"Yeah, why is that?"

"I guess because they are so powerful and... my name means dragon." At look of realization crossed his features. "They think you like me, don't they?"

Hermione shifted her eyes with embarrassment and nodded. "Please don't laugh at me."

"I wouldn't dream of it."

Hermione looked back at him and he gave her a small smile. After a short silence he spoke again.

"There's something I need to tell you." He looked nervous as he said it. Hermione was intrigued; Draco was never nervous about anything.

"Go ahead."

"I don't know how you are going to react to this, but I think it is better that I tell you this now rather than later."

"I promise to listen with an open mind." she said repeating what he had said earlier.

He gave her a nervous smile and took a deep breath. "I was the one who sent you the necklace."

Hermione didn't say anything. Not because she was angry, but because she was surprised, happily surprised, actually. The butterflies same back in her stomach full force.

Draco took her silence as a bad sign and hurried to try and explain himself. "I promise that I didn't do it with bad intentions. I just wanted you to be safe, after what happened in Hogsmeade and with Myers I… I just wanted to make you a little safer, so I designed it and had it made when I went on my extra Hogsmeade day. I knew you wouldn't take it from me because you hated me, so I made up the whole secret admirer so that you wouldn't know it was from me. And I knew if I told you not to wear it, you would because you would never do anything I told you to do."

Hermione felt tears welling up in her eyes. "You designed it and had it made for me?"

"Yeah." Draco said softly. He noticed her tears and moved closer to her in order to wipe her tears away. "Please don't cry… I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"Don't apologize. That was the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me, and it means a lot to me."

Draco smiled at her looking completely vulnerable. He was staring at her with an expression he had never seen before. He moved even closer to her with his hand still on her face and whispered, "Je suis tombé dans l'amour avec vous, mais j'ai peur de vous dire. (I have fallen in love with you, but I am afraid to tell you)"

"When will you tell me what you're saying?" Hermione asked softly.

"Soon…but for now I need you to tell me something."

"What do you want me to tell you?"

"Tell me… what I have to do to keep you from going out with that guy tomorrow night." He whispered before he kissed her.

Draco's kiss was much different than his other kisses. It was similar to the first kiss in that she could sense his nervousness; he was trembling again, but that was where the similarities ended. The kiss was gentle, but intense. Hermione thought her chest was going to explode with how fast her heart was beating. She felt him move closer and gently push her back so that she was now lying down on the couch. He lifted himself up slightly while kissing her, so that they could get into a more comfortable position, with her lying completely on the couch and him on top of her.

Hermione responded enthusiastically to him, sliding her hands under his shirt and caressing his back. She had wanted to be kissed in this way for so long, and now that she was, and it was by Draco, it was as if every dream she had had lately was coming true. She now understood her feelings of jealousy and those pangs of uneasiness she had felt when he had gone with Daphne; she was in love with him. She knew she had fallen the first time he had kissed her, she just never allowed herself to admit it. Hermione didn't know what was going to happen after they stopped kissing, but she wasn't going to worry about it until it was over. It might never happen again; she had to enjoy it while it lasted.

Draco pulled away from her lips to begin kissing her neck. Every few seconds he would pull away to whisper things to her, switching from French to Spanish, knowing that she would understand what he was saying. He whispered things like "usted es tan hermoso (you are so beautiful)" and "Yo no quiero que esto termine (I don't want this to end)" and she just melted, it had more of an effect on her than if he had said it in English.

They were so wrapped up in each other that they didn't here the common room portrait open near them.

"BLOODY HELL!" was all Hermione heard as Draco fell onto the floor, hitting the coffee table on the way day. She looked up to see Ron staring at the two of them.

"What the hell is going on with the two of you!" he asked as Draco picked himself up off of the ground. Ron suddenly turned and stared with wide eyes at Hermione. "Holy shit, Hermione, what are you wearing?"

"Would you stop staring at her Ron, you have a girlfriend." Draco said with obvious irritation.

"I know, but she never dressed like that when I lived with her. If she did I might've…"

"Did you want something?" Draco interrupted loudly.

"What? Oh we were all going to hang out in the Slytherin common room. Blaise had some drinks left over, so I came to get you guys."

"Oh" Hermione said, finally taking part of the conversation. She looked over at Draco who had been looking over at her. She wanted to stay with him, but now that they had lost their moment she didn't know what to do.

"You go, I need to do something early tomorrow, so I better get to bed. We'll talk tomorrow. Goodnight guys." Draco looked at her one more time before he ascended the stairs to his room.

"You know Hermione, I must say, you have renewed my faith in the Cannons." Ron said lightly while putting an arm around her shoulders as he led her out of the room.

"Ok, Ron." She said distractedly, still thinking about what had just happened.

"You know, he really likes you, he just needs to figure some stuff out. It won't be long before you two are together."

Hermione knew there was no point in trying to argue with Ron, knowing what he had just walked in on. She just hoped he was right.

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Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! Seems that FF liked the last chapter much more than AFF… I wonder why… Oh the above song is called Dreams by Nina Sky

Bob: your still my fav… yes men are interesting in that way. Unfortunately, I only speak English, I am so jealous of anyone bilingual, guess it's a drawback of growing up in the states, they don't make you learn a new language when you are young. I totally loved HBP, going to try to read it for a 2nd time too. I don't think you have a dark sense of humor, it seems like the fun/crazy kind :smiles:

Amber: lol, thanks. I feel like a princess now

Jenie: thanks, I'm trying to make it seem realistic and not have them jump into bed with each other

Dragon34: I would say they are

Badgirl13a: here's your answer

Musicalbballgal: sorry about that. For the most part Draco speaks to Hermione in French, but if it is in Spanish, I'll let you know but it's the only other language she understands. If he is speaking with Blaise it will be Italian

Ocean Fish: I wish I didn't need the translation program, but hey, I'll take it over nothing

DrAcO'sblackrose: I understand, I tool Spanish in middle school and high school for a total of 5 years and I certainly couldn't have a conversation with a native speaker

LMiller-06: thanks, though I can't take credit for having the translations right after. That idea came from Anon

ADevilNo: I think you gave me the most enthusiastic review ever. Thanks!

Shining Star: you are totally right, it will end soon. What should I hurry up and review though?

And thank you so much to everyone else that I didn't write a personal response to


	12. a sad day

Disclaimer: See all other chapters

A/N: Ok, I lied. This is not the last chapter, but the next one will be. Sorry about the delay. I've been really busy doing the job search thing. Anyways, I really hope that you like this chapter, thanks for sticking with me!

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Hermione had been sitting in the Slytherin common for a little over an hour and was on her third drink. She was desperately trying to forget the incident that had occurred earlier between her and Draco. She had no idea why he kept kissing her, obviously it wasn't because he actually had feelings for her, he could do much better than her. And there was the fact that up until recently he had despised her.

The more Hermione thought about it, the more bizarre the situation seemed. She knew her reasons for not liking her previously; it was mainly in response to the horrible things he had done and said to her. He had started just about every argument the both of them had ever gotten into. It was as if he had gone out of his way to argue with her. And now, in just a day, it was so different. Could he possibly have feelings for her?

"Going a little heavy on the drinks, don't you think?" Blaise asked as he came and sat next to her.

"Not drinking fast enough." Hermione responded, finishing her drink. She reached over to the table in front of her in order to fill up another cup when Blaise gently took the cup away from her.

"I think you've had enough. What's going on with you Mya?" he asked looking concerned.

"The only thing going on with me is that a certain _someone _won't let me drink anymore."

Blaise rolled his eyes and sighed. "Does this have to do with a certain situation that Ron walked in on?"

"He told you?" Hermione groaned. Now Blaise was going to embarrass her. This evening was just kept getting worse.

"Of course he told me, witness something of that magnitude could never be kept as a secret. Though, it was after he described in detail how hot he thought you looked tonight. I'm sure you realize that Millie was less than pleased by his observations."

Hermione giggled. "He really didn't do that did he?"

"Of course not, well he did, just not in front of Millie. I swear, he needs to control his hormones before Millie dumps him."

"Oh he'll be fine, she knows he loves her. He'd never cross the line."

Blaise smiled. "So why are you so upset, Mya?"

"I don't know if I want to tell you. I mean you are Draco's best friend."

"I won't repeat anything you say to him, promise."

Hermione sighed. "I'm just really confused, Blaise. We used to argue all the time, about the over the most idiotic things. But even though we fought, whenever he was close to me, I would get all flustered around him. Then he saved me from this Death Eater in Hogsmeade, and even though he acted like a git afterwards, I could tell that he was really concerned about me. Then that whole thing with Jay… I don't even know what happened there, but Jay won't even look at me anymore. And don't think for a second that I don't know that you had something to do with that too."

"I don't know what you are talking about." Blaise said with a sly grin.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Anyway, he kissed me last week and it was the most amazing kiss ever. And he kissed me again at the party and again tonight. I'm just scared that he's playing some kind of game with me. I don't know how he could change his view of me so quickly."

Blaise looked at her thoughtfully. "What are your feelings for Draco?"

"Please don't make me answer that." she replied lowering her eyes to stare at the rug.

"I can't help you if you don't answer."

"I fancy him more than anything." she said softly feeling tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"Hey, look at me." Blaise said, gently lifting her head. "Oh, Mya, don't get upset."

"I'm sorry; it's just hard for me to stay optimistic knowing that I have no chance with him."

"Why would you say something as silly as that?"

"I've seen the girls he dates, they are pretty much perfect. I mean, they may be a little lacking in the intelligence department, but maybe he isn't looking for someone with a brain. Every girl he has dated has been beautiful"

"Mya…"

"I know what you are going to say. I just need to forget about it, he's obviously just confused or lonely or something." she said trying to convince herself that he wasn't playing games with her.

"Have you ever wondered why Draco hasn't dated anyone since September? Besides that… colorful reason you shared with us yesterday?"

Hermione blushed. "I apologized to him for that. But I figured he hadn't found anyone up to his standards."

"Maybe he has…"

Hermione furrowed her brows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Think about it, there are a lot of girls in this school that like him, but he doesn't pay attention to most of them, right? So, obviously he fancies one of the girls he does pay attention to."

"Wow, Blaise, no one could ever mistake you for an idiot." Hermione said sarcastically.

Blaise narrowed his eyes at her. "As I was saying, Draco is not a shy person and would have no problem approaching any girl he was interested in. So which girls does he actually pay attention to?"

"Pansy, Millie, Ginny and me. Since they all have boyfriends and he didn't start being cordial with me until recently, I would come to the conclusion that he just isn't interested in anyone."

"Well… you are correct in that Draco would never attempt to win the heart of someone already taken. Even so, he doesn't show any preference between the three of them."

"Ok, so what are you trying to say?" Hermione was getting tired of this game. All she wanted to do at the moment was go to bed and not wake up until Christmas, which was the day after tomorrow.

"For the Head girl, you can be so thick sometimes. Obviously Draco fancies you."

Hermione looked down at her hands. "If this is a joke, this is a very mean thing to say to me."

"Oh, Mya, think about it. He goes out of his way to annoy you all the time. You could be on the opposite side of the room doing something that is of no concern to him and he will find some way to get your attention focused on him. And he kissed you. One time could be considered a mistake, but three?"

"I don't know… maybe he just gets confused or something."

Blaise gave her an exasperated sigh. "Doesn't he ever do something strange or inconsistent when you two are alone?"

Hermione thought for a moment. "Well he does speak in French to me a lot."

"Really?" Blaise asked looking surprised. "What does he say to you?"

"I don't speak French, so I don't know what he is saying. He does keep calling me belle though."

Blaise gave her a slow smile that made it obvious he knew something that she didn't.

"Why are you smiling like that?" Hermione asked, feeling a little annoyed. "What are you not telling me?"

"Belle in French is the same as it is Italian." he said looking smug.

Hermione had the sudden urge to hit him but restrained herself. After all, violence never solves anything. "Can you just tell me what it means?"

"He's been telling you that he thinks you are beautiful."

Hermione stared at him in shock. "He thinks I'm beautiful?" she whispered afraid that she had heard wrong.

Blaise put a comforting arm around her shoulder. "Anyone with eyes can tell that he thinks so. He stares at you all the time when he thinks that nobody is watching."

"He does?" she asked quietly.

"Yes, he does. Hermione, did he ever tell you why he speaks in French to you?"

"He told me that he was saying things that he wasn't ready to tell me yet."

Blaise sighed. "There are a lot of things that he hasn't been ready to tell you. I just hope that he's ready soon, because there is nothing more that I'd like to see than see you two together."

Hermione smiled and gave him a hug. "Thank you for being my friend." she whispered.

"No problem, Mya. Let's get back to the others before they get curious." he said, standing up and pulling her up so they could hang out with their friends.

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Hermione woke up the next morning feeling terribly upset. After hanging out with her friends last night she had walked (well more like hurried in order to avoid Filch roaming the halls) back to her common room determined. She hadn't cared that it was really late and she would be waking him up, she needed to tell Draco how she felt that instant. Even if he turned her down, she would feel much better getting it off of her chest. She couldn't continue going on like this, not knowing how he felt about her.

With these thoughts on her mind, she ran up the stairs towards Draco's bedroom. Upon reaching the top of the staircase she noticed that his door was slightly ajar. Finding this to be slightly odd but not really caring, she opened his door and quickly looked around his room. When her eyes fell upon his bed, she realized that he was not sleeping; he wasn't even in the room. In fact it didn't even look as if he had slept there that night at all.

Always assuming the worst, Hermione came to the conclusion that he must be in someone else's bed.

'How could I have actually believed that he was just friends with that girl' she had thought returning to her room, tears forming in her eyes. Needless to say, she fell asleep crying that night.

Now Hermione sat on her bed just staring off into space. She hated feeling like this, allowing one person to make her feel so vulnerable. She had no idea how she was going to make it through to the end of the year trying to hide her feelings for him, it would be pretty much impossible. Sighing in defeat, she trudged towards the bathroom in order to start her Christmas Eve day.

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Later that day Hermione was still upset. That morning she had spoken with Julian and told him that she wouldn't be able to go out with him that evening. It just wouldn't be right to give him hope if heart belonged to someone else, even if that someone didn't return those feelings. Julian had understood and thanked her for being honest with him when it would've been easy to lead him on.

Now she was almost regretting her earlier actions. Draco hadn't returned to the common room all day and she could only imagine what he was doing all of this time. Well she was trying hard not to, anyways. Blaise had noticed her strange behavior after lunch, and not feeling like lying, she gave him a general idea of what had gone on when she went to her common room last night.

Now Hermione was sitting in her bedroom thinking about what she would do the next time she saw Draco. She knew that she would have to talk to him but she just had no clue what she would tell him. She didn't know if it would be a good idea to tell him her feelings for him. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sounds of the common room portrait slamming and raised voices. Hermione walked over to her bedroom door and cracked it open so she could hear what was going on. As soon as the opened the door she heard the voices of both Draco and Blaise clearly.

"You have to talk to her and tell her where you were last night, Draco. She thinks you were with another girl!" Blaise yelled.

"Shut up you idiot, she'll hear you." Draco hissed.

Hermione heard Blaise let out a frustrated sigh. "Fine then!" he replied sounding annoyed. "Lei ha bisogno di dirgli la verità. (You need to tell her the truth).

"Che importa? Non ero con un'altra ragazza, a meno che lei conta mia madre. (What does it matter? I wasn't with another girl, unless you count my mother."

"Che importa? Lei non sarà mai con lei se lei continua a nascondere ciò che è successo tra lei e suo padre! (What does it matter? You will never be with her if you continue to hide what happened between you and your father!)"

Hermione didn't hear Draco answer. She didn't know what they were saying, but she had the feeling that this argument was very important in some way, especially since it was obvious that it had something to do with her. That was the only reason she was still listening, she was hoping that one of them might slip and revert to speaking in English.

"So che lei l'ama (I know you love her)" Hermione heard Blaise say, not sounding angry anymore. "Ho saputo del suo che i cambiando sentimenti per lei dalla guerra (I've known of your changing feelings since the war.)"

Draco didn't reply once again.

"Draco, lei deve dire lei. (you have to tell her.)"

"Me odierà. (She'll hate me.)" she heard Draco say in a quieter tone.

"La perché odierebbe? (why would she hate you?)" Blaise asked sounding confused.

"Perché sono assassino. (because I'm a killer)"

"Abbiamo tutto l'ucciso, Draco, anche Hermione. (we've all killed, Draco, even Hermione.)"

This made Hermione focus once again, now that she heard her name in the conversation.

"Questo è diverso. (this is different)" said Draco.

"No non è. Lei l'ha fatto per risparmiare la sua vita, capirà. Ma se lei tiene questo da lei, e tiene a agire come lei è, l'odierà. (No it isn't. You did it to save her life, she will understand. But if you keep this from her, and keep acting how you are, she will hate you.)"

"I can't do it…"

"Draco, lei è disposto a rinunciare a una probabilitá per essere con la ragazza lei ama perché lei è spaventato? (Draco, are you willing to give up a chance to be with the girl you love because you are scared?)"

Hermione didn't hear anything after this, only some faint scuffling and the sound of the common room portrait opening and closing. She gently closed her bedroom door, not knowing if Draco was still in the dormitory. She didn't want him to know that she had been eavesdropping, or attempting to eavesdrop (its kind of hard to call it that when you can't understand anything that is being said).

Hermione walked back over to her bed and resumed her previous activity of what she would say to Draco. After about half an hour of getting nowhere, she heard a knock on her door. Feeling incredibly nervous, she walked over to her door and opened it. In front of her stood a disheveled and obviously distraught Draco.

"I need to talk to you."

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Oh, I'm so bad, lol. I promise that there will be only one more chapter to this story, even if it takes forever for me to write it. Please review! Criticisms will help me with future stories.

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Thanks again to everyone who review my story on AFF and FF. I'm hoping to get at least 100 reviews on each site. I've responded to everyone who was written either a long review of one with constructive criticism.

luvzrock16: thanks for the suggestions!

Bob: I hope your sunburn is gone. Aloe is your friend! So is sunblock, lol. Sorry your friend ruined HBP for you, just ruin something for them in return. Yup yup. thanks for the birthday wish. Had an awesome day! I hope that when I write my next story you will enjoy it and review.

Mary P: wow… I didn't think anyone would like my story this much… as for the sex scene I suppose I may be able to do that. Don't know how long it'll be though

Amber: Thanks! Don't worry, I'm seeing this through to the end

Emz: glad you are liking it

Brittney: I actually enjoyed the book. I still have to go through it again the get the things I missed the 1st time around. I think you are right about their passion, thanks for your opinion

Michelle: English is great and I am happy I speak it, especially since it is known to be the hardest language to learn, but I think it would be beneficial to learn another. Plus I love Spanish

Stephanie: Ron is just a bit to hormonal I think, lol. It's cool that you are bilingual, no matter what languages it is in. Good luck with the Italian!

Shannon: Thanks for the lovely comments. You really said that to your boyfriend? Lol, he must've thought you lost your mind. Sounds like something I would do

ADevilNo::big smile: I don't think I will write a sequel. I'm usually happy enough once the characters get together. We'll see though

Forever His: really? Do you love it? Lol, thanks!

HPfanatic53072: I've only read HBP once, have to go through it again, but I did like it. I would make the chapters longer but, I but I don't want to draw it out.

Shining star: I did like it. Though for some reason I think it should have had a different title. The HBP didn't really seem to play a significant role. Maybe it's just me

Simpleness: I made sure that the translations are right next to the Italian in this chapter. Glad you are enjoying my story, and thank you for the complement.

Ocean Fish: lol, he has is moment's doesn't he :smiles:


	13. Confessions

Disclaimer: My name is not Jo, though you already know. HP is her, but these are my words.

A/N: Like my lil old school rap disclaimer? Lol. Sorry it took so long for me to finish this story. For the past couple of weeks I have only been focused on job hunting. But now that is all over and I am finally a new member of the work force! Well, guys, this is the last chapter of Things Can Change. Thanks to everyone who stuck with me until the end, I hope I didn't disappoint. Enjoy!

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Draco had never been so nervous in his life. He had been sitting in Hermione's room for the past ten minutes just staring at his hand. He just had no idea how he was going to make it through this conversation.

"If you have something to tell me, it would be a good idea to start speaking. I'm not a mind reader." Hermione said, the irritation apparent in her voice.

'I guess Blaise wasn't lying when he said she was upset with me.' He thought as he gathered his courage. "I'm sorry, I just never wanted to have this conversation with you." Draco responded softly, still looking at his hands.

"If you're going to tell me that kissing me was a mistake, you can save it. I've already figured it." Hermione said in a nasty tone that he hadn't heard from her in a while.

Draco's head snapped up and he glared at her. "Would you just let me say what I have to say before you start making stupid accusations?" he said sharply.

Hermione shrank back into the headboard of her bed. He could see that her lower lip was beginning to tremble and she was holding back tears. Draco sighed and rubbed his face his hands.

"I'm sorry. You have every right to be angry with me, but please can you just listen to me? This is going to be extremely hard for me to say and I just need to you be patient with me."

"Ok" she said softly.

Draco took a deep breath and began the story that might change his and Hermione's relationship from this day forward.

"You never knew this, but before I became part of the Order I was a full-fledged Death Eater. When I became a Death Eater the summer before last year, I never had the intention of becoming a spy for the Order. Contrary to popular belief, I wasn't putting up a façade, I really was the prejudiced ass that you thought I was, at least I thought I was. I was so proud to have been let into Voldemort's inner circle, Blaise and I were two of the youngest Death Eaters in history to achieve this honor. My age was seen as a great advantage to Voldemort, since I was still a student at Hogwarts I had unlimited access to Harry and the people he cared about the most.

"So my first mission was to dispose of one Harry's friends, more specifically you. He gave me 6 weeks to come up with a plan and to carry it out. I want to be totally honest with you, so I will admit that at the very beginning I had every intention of carrying out the mission. I despised you, and had thought that life would be better if you weren't around. So I began to study your habits, where you went, what you ate; things of that nature. But as the weeks went by, the more apprehensive I became about actually completing my mission. I starting losing a lot of sleep, and when I did sleep I had terrible nightmares. It was then, when I had pretty much become an insomniac, that I starting noticing this about you, like the way your face glowed when your friends gave you a compliment, or the way you bit your lip when you concentrated. When I saw these things, it was as if something inside of me snapped. I realized that I could kill an innocent person, I couldn't kill _you_.

"I didn't know what I was going to do; Voldemort was going to kill me if I didn't follow through with the mission. I took a chance and went to Blaise with my problem, and thank God that he felt the same way about what he had to do or I would've been in trouble for sure. I would love to say that we figured out a brilliant way to get me out of it but we didn't have a clue. So a week before the deadline my father sends for me and inquires about my progress. I told him that everything was going just fine, but he could see right through me. He used legilimens on me, and since I hadn't slept in weeks, I didn't have the energy to block it. He shifted through all my memories of the previous five weeks with a look of disappointment on his face. When he was finished he told me, in this completely eerie tone, that if I didn't complete my mission, he would have to do it for me.

"Looking back at it, I probably should've gone to Dumbledore after the meeting with my father, but even with all of the stuff that was happening, it had never occurred to me to try and get out of being a Death Eater. So when the night finally came where I was supposed to… finish my mission, I kept a close eye on you, hoping that you wouldn't take your nightly walk to lake. But as luck would have it, you did making you an easier target for my father than if you inside the castle walls. I was able to spot him a far way off coming out of the forbidden forest and I tried to convince him not to hurt you. He said some things and when he was about to go after you, I killed him."

Throughout his whole speech, Draco kept his eyes on a spot on a wall away from Hermione. He couldn't bring himself to see Hermione's face while he recounted the events of his horrible past, he was sure that if he saw his face his heart would break, and he wouldn't be able to get everything out. Draco now sat there, silent, staring at the same spot waiting for her to say something.

Ten minutes of silence had passed until Draco had the courage to look at her. She was staring at him with tears falling down her face. His heart broke in many pieces at the sight. He never knew he could hurt so much without an unforgivable being cast on him. Draco opened his mouth to say something, _anything_, to make the expression of betrayal leave her face, but Hermione beat him to it.

"Does everyone else know?" Hermione asked in a shaky voice. Draco could tell she was trying to hold back her emotions. He looked back down at his hands.

"Dumbledore, Blaise, Harry and Ron saw me do it. Blaise had told Dumbledore the whole story and Harry and Ron used the map to find us. Eventually, they told the girls, but that was the night Blaise and I pledged our allegiance to the Order." Draco replied softly.

"Why didn't they tell me?" she now asked quietly.

"I asked them not to."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want you to think you owed me something."

Draco heard Hermione move off of the bed and walk over towards his chair. She kneeled in front of him and gently lifted his head so he was looking at her.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Hermione repeated looking him in the eye.

"I didn't want you to hate me." Draco replied, his voice trembling.

"Why would I hate you, you saved my life."

"But I killed my father to do it. I used an unforgivable on a member of my family. I'm a horrible person." He felt his eyes begin to water

"Draco, you saved my life. I could never think you were horrible, no matter what you had to do to save it."

Draco gave her a soft smile, she had no idea what that meant to him.

"But after all of that, how come you were still nasty to me?"

This was the question Draco had been dreading. He took a deep breath before he answered. "I felt really guilty about what I did, even though he was evil, he was still my father. His last words to me before he died were 'I never thought my son would betray me because he was in love with a mudblood.' I was angry with you because my father thought I killed him because I was in love with you and I wanted you to feel the pain that I felt."

Hermione averted her eyes. "Then why did you stop?"

"Well you can imagine how stupid I felt when I realized that my father had been right." He replied nervously. "I mean, I've been trying to deny it to myself ever since the Hogsmeade trip but, I think that our kiss in the hallway finally made me admit it to myself."

Hermione looked back at him, her eyes shiny. "What?"

"I'm in love with you, Hermione." He said simply. It might have come out calmly but inside it felt as if hundred of miniature pixies were playing basketball in his heart.

"Are you sure?" she whispered.

"Well considering that I almost gave myself a heart attack by telling you, I think that the answer would be yes."

Hermione gave him a bright smile that took his breath away and leaned over to hug him tightly. Draco had never been happier. Even though she didn't say anything about returning his feelings, he was just grateful that she understood and didn't hate him.

"Draco?" came her muffled voice from his shoulder.

"Yes, Hermione?"

"Where were you last night?"

Draco had been wondering when she was going to ask him that. "I went home to be with my mother. Today would've been my father's birthday."

"Oh"

Draco continued to hold her. He felt like an anvil-sized weight had been lifted from his shoulders. It was a wonderful feeling.

"Draco?" came the muffled voice again.

"Yes, belle?"

Hermione pulled away from him smiling. "I love you." She said before leaning in to kiss him.

Draco and Hermione stayed like that for a long while, just holding each other and kissing sweetly. Their kisses were full of hope and promises for the future. When they finally pulled away, they just gazed at each other. Draco felt that he could stare at her all day and never tire of the sight.

"Thank you for telling me all of this." Hermione said breaking the silence.

"I wanted our relationship to be based on honesty. I didn't want to continue hiding this from you."

"Relationship?"

Draco felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head. Of course she wouldn't want to be in a relationship with him, he was too damaged. She needed someone good and pure, just like her. When he said that she loved him, she must've only meant it as a friend.

"Well…I meant…What I mean to say…" Draco stuttered.

"The problem is," Hermione started shyly, "that you haven't asked me to be your girlfriend."

Draco smiled, thank goodness that she still wanted to be with him. He stood up and extended a hand to gently pull her to her feel. He gazed into her eyes and gently stroked her cheek with his hand.

"Hermione, will you make me the happiest man at Hogwarts, if not the world, and be my girlfriend?"

"Yes, oh yes." she responded breathlessly capturing him lips in a kiss more passionate than the previous.

As the kiss deepened she began to back up towards the bed. Never breaking their kiss, they fell onto the bed, scooting up until Draco was comfortably lying on top of her. Draco moved away from her lips to begin kissing her neck. While he was doing this, he felt Hermione begin to unbutton his shirt. He pulled away from her in order to make the task easier. When she finished, she slid his shirt from his shoulders and leaned up to place a gentle kiss in the middle of his chest. She pulled her shirt over her head, dropped it onto the floor, and then quickly unclasped her bra. The bra met the same fate as her shirt and before he could truly admire the sight in front of him, she pulled him in for a slow and gentle kiss.

The feeling of her bare skin against his chest aroused him more than he had ever been in his life. By the way she was shifting under him he knew she could feel how aroused he was. It was then she breathed in his ear, "I'm ready."

Draco pulled away from her and pulled down her cotton pants. He took a moment to admire her in just her light blue, lace underwear before he gently slid them down her legs. Hermione reached up to unbuckle his pants. She quickly did the same to his pants and pulled down both his pants and boxers in one quick motion. He smiled at her impatience as he kicked his pants onto the floor.

Draco leaned down to give her a passionate kiss as he entered her. There would be no teasing tonight, just gentle lovemaking; they had all the time in the world to play games. Tonight would just be about showing each other how much they loved each other.

He showered her with kisses and he moved in and out of her, attentively listening to her soft sighs and moans. When Hermione finally reached her peak, he whispered how much he loved her in all the languages he knew until he reached his. After he pulled out of her, he held her against his chest. He had never felt this way before, he had no idea that he could have fallen even more in love with her than he had been, but he did.

Draco looked over at her clock and realized that is was now past midnight.

"Happy Christmas, love." he said, kissing her softly on the forehead.

"Happy Christmas." she responded, smiling and gazing at him. "I think this will be the best Christmas ever."

Draco chuckled. "I think so too. I have something for you." He pulled away from her to reach into a pocket of his jeans that were now on the floor. He handed her a small package wrapped in shiny red paper tied with a green ribbon.

Hermione eagerly ripped open the package and Draco had to smile. She just looked so adorable. Inside the package was a small black velvet box which she opened slowly.

"Oh my God! This is beautiful!" she exclaimed. Inside the box was a ring that matched the necklace that he had given her perfectly. He took the ring and put it on her left ring finger.

"It's a promise ring. I promise to protect you for the rest of my life, and if I don't, well let's just say there will be consequences."

Hermione gave him a tight hug. "Thank you so much, Draco. It is the most wonderful present I could ever receive. I'm so sorry I didn't get you anything, its just that with everything that has happened…"

"Shh..." Draco interrupted. "You've just given me the best gift I could ever imagine receiving. Your love." he said. He gently brought them back to the position of lying next to each other while he held her. They lay in silence for a short while.

"You know, we are one of the two most powerful couples in world now." He said sleepily.

Hermione laughed softly. "Is power all you care about?"

"No, I care about you a lot more. Et un jour je vous ferai ma femme ( And one day I will make you my wife.)" he murmured softly before falling asleep.

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Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. If you guys have and questions, comments, or criticisms, I will try to respond to all of them. They will help for when I write my next story! Thanks!

slykitten


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